Cultural Studies
by Neross-qod
Summary: Twenty years before Shepard ever met Garrus, there was Jaksus and Maria. A young couple that have more against them than just outside forces. Can they forget old prejudices and learn to love one another? Prequel to Fighting Urges
1. The Human Stain

Neross: Well I know it took me awhile but I finally finished the first chapter happily. For those of you NOT familiar with the main characters of this story they are in fact Original Characters of mine that were featured in my F!shep/Garrus fic Fighting Urges. This piece can be considered something of a sequel to that story. Although really it's more of a prequel as it takes place some twenty years before the events of Mass Effect.

In any case I hope you all enjoy reading this first chapter as much I enjoyed writing it.

Title: Cultural Studies

Summary : Twenty years before Shepard ever met Garrus, there was Jaksus and Maria. A young couple that have more against them than just outside forces. Can they forget old prejudices and learn to live one another? Or is it just not in the stars?

Rating M : For crude language, adult themes, sexual themes, and violence.

…..

Jaksus Vikil was biased against humanity. He admitted to that. So were many Turians who worked for C-SEC. It hadn't been that long since the Relay 3-14 incident after all. But unlike the other Turians working for C-SEC; Jaksus had a record that proved his bias. A violent one.

Now Jaksus was a good Turian. He followed orders when asked, and hardly ever voiced his opinion. But when his superiors weren't around…well…that was a different story. So Jaksus wasn't surprised when he received the summons to see the Executor in his office.

He was, however, surprised to see a human Alliance Officer waiting for him when he got there. The officer was shorter than Jaksus was used to in male humans, with copper brown hair and pale blue eyes. His features were oddly soft, he looked like one of those humans who smiled often behind a desk and appeared non-threatening and just trustworthy enough to ignore.

The way he held himself and the way he smiled at Jaksus spoke against his looks however. Jaksus had seen Krogan smile that way just before they smashed a guy's head into a wall. It was a smile of quiet malevolence. Jaksus did not like that smile. He found he liked it even less upon a human face.

The Executor stood as Jaksus entered, the pale marking on his face flashing brighter as they momentarily caught the lighting recess in the ceiling. "Vikil," he ground out, clearly in a bad mood. Not good news for Jaksus. The ruddy young Turian began to suspect he was about to lose his job. "Come in. Sit down. I have…" The Executor trailed off his eyes darting to glance, almost nervously, at the human still standing at attention in a corner of the room. "I have an assignment for you." he finally concluded after a moment.

Jaksus hesitated, his eyes too darting momentarily toward the silent Alliance Officer. Something was up. He wasn't being fired and this human…this human held some kind of authority over the Executor. A bad taste rose up in the back of Jaksus' mouth as he finally took a seat in one of the two chairs across from the Executor's desk. Without pause the Alliance Officer walked; no, glided was the word; over to the chair beside him and sat down as well. He placed his hat in his lap and folded his hands over it and looked for all the world like he was at home amongst friends. It was unsettling.

The Executor slowly took a seat as well and for a moment silent tension ruled the room as Jaksus waited for a clarification of the strange situation he found himself in. Eventually the quiet was more than Jaksus could stomach and he dared to break it. "Sir? You said you had an assignment for me?"

The Executor looked up, as if startled out of some deep train of thought before he cleared his throat and folded his hands before him on the desk before him. "Yes. That's correct. The Council has asked for an officer for a protection assignment. The Alliance is sending a researcher to the Citadel and there was a safety concern. They want an officer to look after this researcher of theirs for however long the Council decides they are welcome."

Jaksus already hated this idea. C-SEC officers had a name for protection assignments. "Babysitting" they called it. Jobs that were better for mercenaries, paid guns, or private security. Most were only for a short time, for one reason or another. But from what Jaksus had heard these short assignments often felt like months or years instead of the days or weeks that they truly were. Either way protection assignments were boring and normally reserved for those who either were in deep shit or were looking for a promotion.

Jaksus was pretty sure he was one of the latter. He wanted to reject the idea outright, but if it was a short job he might be able to tolerate acting as glorified babysitter to some annoying, human, researcher long enough to see the job done. "How long is the assignment for sir?" he asked reluctantly.

To his surprise (and slight irritation), it was the Alliance officer who answered him. "The current contract is for one year. But we're aiming to extend that."

The human's voice was soft, a bit like his features, but filled with a humble brilliance. He sounded cool, calm, and wise and Jaksus was suddenly irritated at the thought of having to put up with such a human for the next for five minutes. Let alone the next year. So Jaksus did not bother to turn his attention away from the Executor. "Is this true sir?" he asked.

The Executor frowned furiously at him. "Yes. It is. The Alliance put forward a request to position a cultural anthropology expert here on the Citadel to conduct a study on the Council Races and those Races who hold an embassy. However, due to lingering tensions between humanity and Turians; as well as the escalating conflict between humanity and Batarians over the colony rights in the Skylian Verge; the Alliance was worried about the expert's safety."

"It's through this study that we hope to understand what would be required and expected of us as full members of Council space. What's more the Council hopes humanity can learn from what our expert observes and grow to trust and aid the other species as proper members upon the Citadel." The Alliance Officer injected. His tone was still calm. Still eerily under control.

Jaksus didn't trust him. He didn't trust any human. But this one in particular made his scales itch. He was too calm. Too in common of the entire situation. He suddenly felt like a game piece being directed upon a board. What did humans call that strategy game of theirs? Chess? Was that what this human was playing with him?

Fine, he thought, let him play. "Alright," he stated plainly, proudly, filled with the strength of his indignation. "I'll accept the position."

The Executor looked slightly surprised. The Alliance officer however simply… smiled a bit wider. "There you have it Executor. We have our Officer as promised. I'll inform Alliance command first thing tomorrow. With any luck we will have our expert ready to depart at the end of the month."

Jaksus turned and stared at the Alliance officer in disbelief. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a bit confused. You're not the Alliance's researcher?"

The officer chuckled and shook his head, "No I'm afraid not. The Alliance sent me to access the situation and to see to this matter in particular. But sadly my expertise lies in data translation, not Cultural studies. As my daughter often tells me I have no grasp of the organic …only the inorganic. "

Jaksus furrowed his brow and gazed at the Alliance officer in a brief moment of confusion. And then, almost without thinking, he spoke up again, much to the dismay of the Executor. "I'm sorry if this offends you but why would the Alliance send you for a diplomatic mission if you're expertise is with computers? Isn't it normally the job of politicians and translators to act as ambassadors?"

The officer's smile turned somewhat mischievous. "No offense at all Officer Vikil." he replied politely, a tone of sly cunning in his voice. "You're quite right after all. My position isn't one normally associated with diplomatic missions such as this. I'm afraid I asked for the position. Fought for it actually. You see I have an unique position." He paused a moment an then the man leveled Jaksus with the most intent stare, with an expression filled with a strange sort of judgment. "My child was the one elected for the research position."

…

They gave him an apartment in the upper wards. Something as suitable for an ambassador or high level politician as a Cultural Expert and their bodyguard. There were two bedrooms both with their own bathrooms as well as a kitchen and a rather large living area. And all of these things were left to him alone for three weeks. He could scarcely believe it at first. His co-workers were left astonished at his luck, although they did tease him relentlessly for being awarded the position of baby-sitter for an entire year.

Still for those first three weeks Jaksus enjoyed himself and his new apartment, empty though it was with his few possessions filling up the larger of the two rooms. The one with a view and the adjoining bathroom. He figured he deserved it, since it was his life on the line for someone he didn't even know. Besides, he reasoned, no human could take up as much room as he did.

Then, one fateful day, a large amount of boxes arrived. He wouldn't have bothered to look through them if it wasn't apart of his job description ( and it was ), so he was more than surprised to find nothing but digital books in the first two boxes. There were even real, old, physical books buried underneath, wrapped in protective cloth. None of them were by human writers he noted, each one was by some other race. He noted several famous Turian books among them. Novels he had read in school as a child, though his copies had been digital and not hard-bound novels as these were. They were all on Turian history.

These boxes he placed in a corner in the second bedroom. Then he returned to inspect the last three. The first box he opened was full of dry human food, things that would not spoil over a long time and were compact enough to keep in a small apartment shared by two people. Jaksus estimated that all together it would take up one of the cabinets in the kitchen. He'd taken up three, as well as half the fridge. He scoffed at the food and hastily inspected and put away the food, briefly glancing at the dates on each box and tube to make sure none had expired. None had.

And then at last came the moment Jaksus had most feared. No doubt the last two boxes were filled to the brim with clothes. He had no desire to shift through another man's underthings, let alone a human man. But when Jaksus opened the box he found no clothes that belonged to any sort of man. Human or otherwise. All he found was a bunch of female human clothes. A sinking feeling began to grow in his gut.

And at that instant the door to the apartment opened. Jaksus looked up, hastily shoving the dress he'd plucked from the box back into it's depths. There, in the doorway, was the tiniest human being he'd ever seen.

For a moment he thought she was a child she was so small and thin. But there was a curve to her hip and a swell to her chest that spoke differently. Her hair was the most vibrant color he'd ever seen it sprung from her head in wild curls, waves, and stray hairs like some sort of bristly flower. Her skin was the color of pale pink and dotted with soft brown dots, as if she had been sprayed by a mud puddle and simply let it dry. Her face was rounded with full cheeks upon high cheekbones. She had a small nose that turned up slightly at the tip, and cute, bright pink lips that stretched into a wide grin. But it was her eyes that caught him.

They were large for her face, and wide, and the were the color of a shallow sea at dawn. What's more those eyes swam as she glanced around in excitement, pale brows drawn back earnestly upon a forehead that was just a tad too wide. Shades of blue coursed through her eyes like the waves of a sea on a windy day filled with sunlight. Her eyes were the most striking, and the most disconcerting thing about her.

He realized he was staring and forced himself to stop. To glare at this tiny woman dressed in a blue and purple suit that stood gazing into the apartment with the wide-eyed wonder of an innocent. "Honestly," Jaksus growled, drawing the attention of those strange swimming eyes as they turned toward him in surprise. "Doesn't your species know how to knock? What are you doing here anyway? Did you get lost from some kind of school trip or something?"

His tone was harsh, angry. As much as he felt. But this woman…or girl as he truly suspected she was, simply beamed brighter. She was looking at him as if she'd caught sight of some kind of movie star. It was unnerving. "I'm sorry I barged in. You must be Officer Vikil right? I'm Maria St. George. Oh! Sorry! I mean, DR. Maria St. George. I'm the Cultural Anthropology expert the Alliance recruited for the study. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with you."

Jaksus felt the ground fall out from underneath him. A human woman. He would be living with a human woman. For a year. He wondered if it was not too late to go back to the Executor and hand in his resignation.

…..

Neross : Well there you are my faithful readers. The first chapter of Cultural Studies. I hoped you all enjoyed it. And I hope you're all looking forward to Mass Effect 3 as much as I am. ( Especially since it's coming out on my birthday! EEEee! Bioware you minx you! )

In any case please leave me a review letting me know what you thought of this first chapter and the story in general. Don't forget to check my profile for updates and news about all my stories. And remember, ANY review, is a GOOD review.

Until next time my dear readers, keep on rocking out!


	2. Save Me

Neross: Are we all ready for chapter 2? Yeah. Me too. So let's get to it shall we?

Warning: This fanfiction contains foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…..

Maria was elated. Truly that was the only word for how she felt at this moment. Everything she had seen so far that day had been beyond what she had expected. Beyond what she had hoped. From the moment her shuttle had landed she had been astounded by it all. Everything was so different. So new. And yet still somehow similar.

It was amazing.

She did feel a bit bad about ditching her escort after they were cleared through security at the dock. But it had been worth it. She'd turned off her translator and simply washed herself in the cacophony of foreign sounds, tongues, and languages. She'd gone running through the wards on her own, popping into shops and stores to inspect things as she went before something new would catch her eye.

There were quite a few people who watched her as she went but for the first time in her life Maria didn't care. There were so few humans here. And none of them knew her personally. It was a fresh start for her. In the cultural heart of the galaxy for that matter. She loved it all.

She didn't even stop to think about her apartment and the C-SEC officer waiting for her there until an Asari stopped her and seemed to say something concerning a worry for her well-being. Or at least that's what Maria guessed the Asari was saying by the expression on her face. Maria simply smiled at the Asari and told her she was fine, she wasn't lost, and then turned and headed straight for her new apartment.

She'd memorized the layout of her ward and new neighborhood on the shuttle ride up. She'd memorized much of the layout of the Citadel in fact. Though memorizing anything didn't take her long. There were times she believed that having a photographic memory wasn't such a blessing. This, however, was not one of those times.

She made it to her apartment quite easily and braced herself as she reached for the door panel. A Turian roommate. No. A Turian bodyguard. She felt a shudder of anticipation, excitement, and nervous embarrassment run through her. From what her father had told her Jaksus Vikil seemed very capable and intelligent. Though her father had also warned her that he, like so many other Turians, probably didn't think the best of humanity.

Maria took a deep breath and steeled herself. 'It's alright,' she told herself, 'changing those preconceptions is part of the reason I'm here.' And with that Maria plunged through the door.

She didn't see Jaksus at first, just the large and rather fancy apartment suite the Council had given to her for her stay. It was amazing. It was twice the size of her parent's apartment back on Earth. It was almost as big as her Brother's apartment in Oregon. And he shared it with his wife two kids, and Maria's niece Gene.

Truly Maria was blessed. And then Maria heard the deep voice that growled at her.

Maria fought back against a purely primal reaction to shudder in terror. A Turian, more than likely her bodyguard Jaksus Vikil, stood on the other side of a wide couch, glaring at her with the sharpest, most piercing, green eyes Maria had ever seen. He was impressively intimidating. He was tall, taller than her by at least a foot and a half and his chest was broad even by Turian standards. He had a long fringe and his scales were the color of red clay she'd seen once on a trip to Mars. The color of red bronze. Save for the squared, white markings that traced underneath his eyes down his mandibles and across his nose to the upper half of his brow plates.

Maria loved Turian facial markings. They reminded her of war-paint. And Jaksus definitely reminded her of a warrior. There was nothing about him that did not scream predatory. It made her body quiver in response. He, like everything else she had seen that day, was spectacular. And he looked furious.

Maria supposed she might too, if someone he didn't know had just walked in on him. So Maria simply grinned at his harsh questions. Or what she suspected were questions. There was a strange inflection at the end of his speech pattern that hinted at something. Maria surmised it hinted at an angry line of questions. "I'm sorry I barged in." she began, retaining her smile despite the excited quivering that seemed to have taken over her whole being. A Turian, a real Turian. Flesh and blood and glaring at her. She could not believe her luck. "You must be Officer Vikil right? I'm Maria St. ! Sorry! I mean, DR. Maria St. George."

She cringed inwardly. She'd forgotten her own title again. She'd gotten her second doctorate five years ago. She'd been working on her third, in a field SHE'D helped established, when the Alliance had come to her with this proposal. Yet here she was still treating herself like the child everyone considered her to be. "I'm the Cultural Anthropology expert the Alliance recruited for the study. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with you."

She saw something process in his eyes and then she watched as Jaksus' brow plates slowly raised in what Maria guessed was surprise. There was very little facial movement upon Turian faces. Or at least as far as Maria had seen thus far. But there was something else upon Jaksus' face that Maria simply could not interpret. She could only hope it was something good.

….

Jaksus stared at the woman standing in his doorway with a growing mixture of despair, disbelief, and world-shattering irritation. This could not be happening to him. This woman could not be the one he was stuck with for the next year. She looked like a child. What's more she seemed to act like one too. And she kept staring at him as if she expected him to suddenly break into song and dance. Not to mention the fact that she'd nearly completely ignored his insults and just kept standing there, shaking from excitement.

At least, Jaksus thought it was excitement.

It took him a moment but he finally got over his initial surprise and went back to glaring at her. He saw her expression fall a bit. Somehow that made him feel just a tad bit better. "You have got to be kidding me. There is no way you're a cultural anthropologist. You're what? Twelve? If this is some kind of joke I do not appreciate it. Now who the hell is responsible for you so I can get you out of fringe and back on with my life?"

The girl simply blinked at him. And then she gave a somewhat shaky smile. She let out a nervous chortle of amusement and took another step into the apartment. Jaksus watched her with growing dread. Maybe she was insane.

"Um…that sounded rather…disbelieving. I assure you I am a Doctor of Cultural Anthropology, as well as in Xenoscience Studies." she told him, her face changing a sort of pinkish hue. Jaksus guessed this was out of embarrassment. He'd never seen any human change color like that so dramatically. It was sort of funny…and also sort of unnerving. "I know I don't quite um…look it though. I will admit my situation is unique. But I assure you I am quite knowledgeable in my fields and I'm quite old enough to be here on my own. Although I suppose I won't be with you here." She shot a glance at him and then turned her eyes away shyly. They lit up however as she caught sight of the boxes behind him. "Oh! Good! My things DID get here before me. I was a bit worried. Someone in the shuttle crew told me the cargo ship had been delayed due to some difficultly involving a volus and some fish. I had no idea what the meant but I thought it was a rather funny story at the time."

She talked like a Salarian. The turian began to wonder if she was even stopping to breath. She brushed past him as she went on and began to sift through her box smiling and holding up the dress he'd been inspecting. She held it up and then clutched it to her chest. It was her exact size. Damnit. She was his ward. A migraine began to brew in the back of Jaksus' head.

He growled as she chattered on and picked her up off the floor. He spun her around, set her down again and held her there. He held up one finger and stared her down as best he could. He could still feel her nervously shaking and twitching in his hands…and it annoyed him. "Stop. Talking. For the love of the spirits just shut up for two seconds. You are worse than a Salarian with a point to prove. I haven't finished going through your boxes yet you little idiot. Not that I care but there could be something dangerous in them and I'd lose my job if you wound up maimed or killed so just…stand there… and don't touch anything."

She stared at him as if dumbfounded. Then she blinked and slowly smiled again though this one was more unsure than any of her previous ones. "Um. That …that sounded important."

He stared back at her. He felt his migraine worsen. Was she playing dumb? How could she not understand him? He knew humans had translators. Didn't she-

He stopped and then he glared at her. "You don't have your translator on. Do you?" he snapped out.

She blinked and then cocked her head to the side. "Oh goodness…" she muttered, "I didn't understand that at all. Your vocal intonations are wonderful though. I can see why translators are important. I don't think any other race could replicate those sounds. How do you do that? It's simply amazing."

His shoulders slumped in disbelief and utter frustration. No translator. Great. He growled and pointed at his mouth. "Translator. On. Now." he said slowly. Loudly. And with barely restrained fury.

Maria just gazed at him with that blank look of confusion. And then there was a look of realization upon her face. "Oh! Oh you probably want me to put my translator back on!"

"Yes. That would be helpful." He ground out, finally releasing her.

She reached up and pinched her ear and then turned her attention back to Jaksus and had the decency to look apologetic. "I'm sorry about that. I just. I was so excited to hear the languages here on the Citadel. I mean, really hear them. Not just sit back and have them translated for me. After all there's so much you can learn by understanding another culture's language and-"

Jaksus slapped a hand over her mouth and glared at her again. "Please stop talking." he told her.

She turned pink under his hand and the turian could feel the heat that rose in her face underneath his palm. He quickly released her mouth and stared at her curiously as her face slowly turned the same color as her hair. "Oh I um…I'm sorry. I uh…I know I have a tendency to go on. I'll just uh. I'll shut up now."

Jaksus just let out a huff of agitation and moved past her to get into the box. She watched him curiously, but didn't move to stop him and didn't raise an objection. She just turned a brighter shade of pink the face and bit her lower lip. Jaksus turned toward her and looked at her as if she were crazy. "What? Why are you doing that? Stop biting yourself. Are you into self mutilation or something? Cut it out." He told her.

She stared at him in surprise and instantly stopped, though only to start talking again. "Oh sorry. No. I . I uh…I sometimes bite my lower lip when I'm nervous. Lots of humans do it. It's not self-mutilation. Um it doesn't make us bleed or anything and sometimes humans just-"

Jaksus brought up his hands and waved them in order to get her to stop talking before she went on another full-blown tirade. "No. Okay. I get it. Fine. Chew it off then. Just…just don't touch anything else. I have to make sure nobody shipped something dangerous in with your stuff."

Maria's brows shot up in understanding and she instinctively smiled. "Oh! Oh right. yes. Okay. Sorry. Go ahead."

Jaksus watched her for a moment more, suspiciously waiting to see if she'd start talking again. But she didn't say anything more. She didn't even move. She just sat there. Watching him with a wide expectant smile. So hesitantly he returned to his task of sifting through her things. He got a third of the way through when the door suddenly opened again. This time, however, it was a pair of Alliance officers in uniform, both carrying bags and desperately trying to catch their breath. Neither one looked very happy. They looked even less happy when they spotted Maria beside Jaksus on the floor.

The darker of the two simply tossed his bag on the floor, turned, and walked out, muttering something about 'crazy civilians' and 'never taking this sort of job again'. The other one, a more lighter skinned individual whose dark hair and equally dark eyes glared at the tiny human sitting beside Jaksus. He took a step forward and placed his hands on his hips. "Damnit Maria. You can't just ditch your protection detail like that! I turn my back for five seconds to order you a goddamn coffee and the next thing I know you're gone! Do you know how worried we were? You're lucky the Commander didn't find out or Johnson and I would have been discharged!" He let a snarl of irritation and then shot a furious glance at Jaksus.

"Good freaking luck trying to keep her out of trouble. You're going to need it." He then shot one last glare at Maria and narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth as he issued one final warning. "I WILL be telling your Father and brother about this. You are SO lucky Brandon's on deployment right now."

With that the officer straightened his jacket viciously, and sharply turned on his heel and stalked out. Jaksus stared at the door for a minute after they had gone, wondering what had just happened, before he turned back to glare at Maria. She was hiding her face behind a deep green jacket he'd just pulled out. He crossed his arms and leveled her with a disapproving stare. "You ditched your escort?"

Maria lowered her jacket slightly and showed off the bright shade of red her face had turned. After a moment she made something of a sputtering sound and then nodded. Then she hastily lowered the jacket completely, "But I swear it was just because I wanted to get a good look at things. And honestly everywhere we went everyone kept staring at me like I was some sort of diplomat's daughter. And neither Jake or Martin would let me go into any of the stores to look around and-"

Jaksus placed a hand over her mouth again and sighed in frustration. "This is going to be a thing with you isn't it?"

Maria turned red again and Jaksus could feel the heat straight through to his wrist.

….

Neross: Alright well there you have it for Chapter 2. I hope everyone enjoyed it. And hopefully we all got to see the dynamics between our perspective couple. And since we only have seven more days until Mass Effect 3 comes out I hope this gives you all something to bide you over until the Reapers come and invade us all.

Just another reminder to you all don't forget to check my profile for updates and news about all of my current and on-going stories. And don't forget to leave me a review as I'll never update if I don't get any. Them's just the facts. I don't care if they're good reviews or bad I had just better get some kind of feedback.

Until next time, keep on rocking out!


	3. The Fool on the Hill

Neross: I'm not even going to apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter out. You all know what I was doing.

Warning: This fanfiction contains foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…..

After that first faithful day when they met Jaksus hardly saw his charge. He'd catch her sometimes as she headed to or from her bathroom, her nose stuck to a data-pad or her omnitool as she typed down some idea she must have had. And with each day that passed the more pale the human became; the flatter and stringier her hair became; and the more she began to smell.

It wasn't the WORST smell in the world, but it soon became obvious to Jaksus that her trips to her bathroom WEREN'T to actually bathe. He began to wonder if she'd ever do more than just stick to her room when he very literally ran into her.

He was just returning from a lunch he'd had with an old friend and co-worker of his. He'd opened the door as usual and had just finished locking it when he turned and found himself crashing into something short and solid. He fell face first on top of her and she lay out sprawled beneath him. The leftovers of his sandwich something he was saving for his dinner, was cast hither and thither over the floor and all over her as well.

A data-pad had flown just out of her reach and had skittered all the way across the floor and hit the wall where it now sat blinking dangerously. It took him a moment to figure out what had happened but as he stared at the remains of his lunch he turned a glare downward and found it deepening when he saw the state of her.

She was so pale her skin looked almost grey, her hair was no longer the bright orange-red it had been but not a deep brown and it hung straight and limp around her shoulders as if it were wet although he knew for a fact it wasn't. What's more there was a dark color under her eyes that he'd seen only on humans who had been punched in the face. 'Black eyes' they called it. But clearly she was not injured. The worst part was seeing the way her pupils were dilated and refused to focus.

Jaksus swore, pulled himself up, and snarled at her, flicking a piece of dextro-lettuce out of her hair. "That is it! You have got to stop walking around her without looking where you're going! That was a twenty-credit sandwich you just cost me!" He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her as he lectured, waiting for her to get up, but she barely seemed to be paying attention. In fact she seemed barely able to stand. His words died in his throat as he watched her legs shudder like some kind of new-born animal before finally they gave out underneath her. She was on her second attempt when he finally gave up and let out a furious sigh.

He picked her up, light little thing that she was, and took two steps to drop her unceremoniously on the couch. She bounced once and seemed to regain some of her sense because her eyes were wide and focused now. Focused on him too. Which was improvement. He glanced over her one more time and then shook his head and forced her to look at him by grabbing her chin and turning her face toward him so he could get a better look at her eyes. He swore under his breath as a realization came upon him. "Let me guess. You haven't been eating. Or sleeping either apparently. Are you sick or something? What's wrong with your eyes?"

She flushed a bit, but from what he couldn't tell. "My eyes? I…oh! I probably….they're probably just bags under my eyes. It happens to humans when blood vessels get-"

He placed a hand over her mouth and growled a warning. She stopped talking. "I get it. It has something to do with the fact that you haven't been taking any sort of care of yourself what so ever." He snorted and removed his hand and she looked down and away from him with shame clear on her face. "I was thinking about getting some sleep but I was just so caught up in the history records of Primarch Xerin that I-"

He growled again and her mouth snapped shut and she stared at him in embarrassment, pink in the face. "Sit. Here." he ordered. "Don't move. Don't talk. Just sit here and try not to pass out on me."

She nodded and he turned and with enraged steps he went to the kitchen. It took him a minute but after a moment he returned with a glass of water and a re-heated, pre-made, human meal that had been in the freezer since she got there. He thrust both at her, along with a fork, and then sat down across from her and bared his teeth as he issued his next order. "Eat."

She blinked at him owlishly for a minute before it seemed to dawn on her how hungry she was. She scarfed down the meal and then drained the water glass in just a few scare bites and one huge gulp. He nodded, satisfied, and took both the plastic plater and the glass from her. He disposed of the plastic properly and put the glass in the dish washer and then came back and picked her up again, figuring she was still a bit too weak to walk. He thought for a moment about what to make her do first a bath, or sleep.

He decided on a bath. She wreaked to high heaven. He took her to her bathroom and sat her down at the base of her shower. "I take it you can wash yourself?" he snapped.

She nodded almost numbly, her face as red as could be. He let out a curt nod and then turned on his heel "Then do so." he ordered. He waited on the other side of the door until he heard the water in the shower running to at last go to her room. The place was a mess. Data-pads lay everywhere as did little tiny packages of nutrient paste. He figured that was how she kept going when her hunger nagged at her. It was enough to take away the bite and keep you alive. But not something to live off of for a long period of time.

He threw away the old nutrient paste packages and then blindly leafed through her drawers. Thanks to his inspection he knew most of her wardrobe so he found what he wanted rather quickly. Which was good because he had no desire to leaf through her underwear. She was peeking out of the door when he got back to her. He shoved the clothing he'd picked at her and twitched his mandibles in annoyance. "Get changed. Then go to bed. If you do this sort of thing again I'll ask to get you a feeding tube. Got it?"

She nodded and then gave the smallest of smiles. "Um…thank you." she muttered. He looked at her surprised but then threw up his hands in defeat and went to clean up the mess left by his own lunch.

A couple hours later he checked in on her and found her lying like the dead upon her bed. The only consolation he had that she was alive was her slow and steady breathing. It shocked him to learn that he actually felt glad about that.

….

Maria slept for close to twenty four hours. Jaksus had started to worry about her until she finally came shambling out of her room dressed, showered, and well-fed. He didn't want to admit it to her, or anyone for that matter, but he'd been worried enough to stay at the apartment all day, watching her. Now, now he just felt his earlier anger simmer to the surface. He growled when she told him hello and smiled insipidly.

"I'm guessing your earlier behavior is something you normally do?" He asked, irritable that the Council had settled him with a woman who didn't even have the common sense to look after herself.

She visibly deflated at his chastisement. Her hair fell into her eyes as she gaze up at him from under her brows. It was a look Jaksus understood. Turian children did something similar when they were in trouble. They did it in order to gain sympathy. Jaksus was unswayed, and severely unamused. "I'll take that look to mean you do, in fact, do this rather often." his mandibles twitched in his annoyance. "I thought you were supposed to be a genius. How do you go without food or sleep or bathing for nearly a week?"

The human's face turned red and she quickly folded her in hands in front of her and adverted her eyes in shame. "I um…I forget. When I start researching I go from one fact to another and I get so wrapped up that I forget how long it's been. And then I don't feel or notice or remember what's going on outside of…um…well. My head. My father used to say my problem was that I just can't stop thinking. My thought processes are …not all that normal. So…I've had some…social issues in the past. Including an acute case of Autism." She blinked and then shook her head and then squared herself and looked him square in the eye.

"I'm- I'm high-functioning though. And I …I've never been labeled as insane. I'm just….different." she said defiantly. He stared at her. Her lip was quivering and her hands were clenched into fists at her side, nearly white at the knuckle. Clearly, this was something of an issue with her. To be honest he had no idea what 'Autism' was but clearly it was something of a mental disease or dysfunction gauging by the way she spoke.

He let out a sigh and buried his head in his hands. A crazy genius. He was stuck watching, caring for, and protecting a mad scientist. Well, he figured, at least he wasn't stuck with the kind of mad scientist that played with practical science. Just…cultural and philosophical science. The most she could do is talk him to death. So, annoying as she was, he decided to make peace with the idea of living with the crazy human for now and at least attempting to be nice.

He looked up to her and saw that she was turning away from him and looked very much like a child about to turn into a blubbering mass right before his eyes. He rolled his eyes and stood abruptly, which shocked her out of her moping long enough to look at him in surprise. "Alright. Here's how we'll do this. When you start doing that…er…thinking again…you set a timer on your omnitool for three hours. Then you can stop, get something to eat and take a shower or maybe get some sleep. Then you go back to it and set the alarm again. Sound good?"

She seemed surprised but nodded regardless. The Turian gave a thin smile, "Good." He turned away from her for a moment and set about picking up the plates and glasses he'd simply left out during his stake-out of her room. As he did he began to mutter aloud. "To be honest I don't see what you can learn about the Cultures on the Citadel by sitting in your room. I mean wouldn't it be better to go out and actually, I don't know, observe them or something?"

The second the words were out of his mouth he regretted them, because he could actually FEEL her bristle in excitement behind him. It was like her anticipating shivers sent ripples through the air. It was that or that strange little sound she was making that sounded almost like a pained squeal. When he turned to look at her, fearful what he would see he felt a knot form in his stomach. Her face was split like a grin and her eyes were alight as if from within. "That, " she told him with the strangest little tilt in her voice, "Is an excellent idea." She turned quicker than he could blink and even as he moved to stop her she was already in her room, the door closing and locking behind her. "Just give me a second to change!" she called.

Jaksus swore and then ran to the kitchen and promptly tossed the dishes in the sink. He'd wash them later he decided as he sprinted to his room and quickly changed, making sure to remember his kinetic shield generator as well as his hidden holster for his C-SEC regulated pistol. Hope for the best, plan for the worst, that's what his senior officer Vakarian was always telling him. So that's what he did.

…

Maria changed quickly, eager to be out the door and gone. She'd set her omnitool to it's voice-recording mode as soon as she was out the door. It's what she always did to take notes when she was 'out-in-the-field' so to speak. She did it when she was just starting out in school as well. Talking to herself helped her think. It made her feel less alone. Her mother had always gotten so annoyed, so irritated with her, for doing it. For playing music at all times of the day. For toning her out and locking herself in her room for days. When she'd been really young she'd wanted to throw Maria into a mental hospital. It had been her father who had suggested they settle for counseling and first.

That was how they'd learned of her high-IQ and photo-graphic memory…amongst other things. Her mother, she had wanted to send Maria away to some Alliance Academy on Luna. It was her oldest sister, already married and out of the house, who had convinced her parents to keep her on Earth…at home. The memory of Kathy was painful and always inadvertently brought on memories of her death. And then the memories of the woeful crying of her niece.

Maria snapped the last button on her shirt and bolted from her room, already turning her mind back to the current mission at hand. To explore Citadel cultures out in the open. She already knew where she wanted to go having picked a snippet of conversation between two Krogan. A bar, in the lower wards. That's where she'd go. It'd be perfect. She could observe the way other species attempted to gain potential mates or relax from long days at work. She could even observe the way different species dealt with the differences in biology to buy their prospective dates drinks. But she was most excited about the dancing. She'd never seen anyone but humans dancing. And she was resolute to see that come to an end by the time the night was through.

Surprisingly Jaksus was out of his room only a few seconds after she had left hers. He was wearing a black and green suit and jacket. It looked good on him, and made him seem even more intimidating than usual, if that was possible. He still reminded Maria of a predator. But Maria had always found predators to be beautiful…in a scary way. A way that made her skin tingle and her nerves dance with warning. She'd always liked that feeling but Jaksus forced another level onto that familiar tingling. He set her muscles to quivering, and they always seemed to be on the edge of either running…or failing her completely. It was an interesting reaction. Maria wasn't sure if it was something she liked yet.

She smiled at him regardless of how she felt and was already reaching for the door as he straightened his jacket a bit. "Good. You're ready to go! I know just the place. I can look up the directions on the way down in the elevator and figure out the fastest route by cross-referencing the directions with the blue-prints of the wards that I got from-"

He let out a sound of irritation. "Just tell me where you want to go. Blue-prints aren't any good on the Citadel. The Keepers are constantly moving things." he told her, taking a couple long strides to catch up to her. He grabbed her by the arm as she attempted to go on by her own when he stopped to set the lock on their apartment. She could feel a tremor go through her spine at his close proximity. It was a bit uncomfortable. She knew her face would be a bit pink, she could rarely hide when she was excited or embarrassed.

She tapped her finger against her thigh impatiently as she was forced to keep pace with her Turian bodyguard. "Flux," she told him, "I want to go to Flux."

She could feel him bristle beside her and heard a low growl of minor disapproval but Jaksus simply shook his head and sighed, "Fine. Flux it is. Just don't you dare wander off."

…

Five Minutes. He had been gone FIVE MINUTES. And Maria was nowhere to be seen.

They'd made it to Flux just fine. There had been no incidents either on the way there or at the door. He'd sat her at a booth, gotten her a glass of water and a bowl full of nuts reserved for Asari and leaned back with her to simply enjoy the music. It had seemed like enough at first. The tiny human seemed content to sit there and watch the club's comings and goings with all the rapt and eager attention of a child watching a magic show. There were times when she seemed to quiver with excitement and he worried she might burst from her seat and suddenly go running. But she never did.

And since nothing had happened for close to an hour Jaksus had done the stupid thing and let down his guard. He'd thought she'd be fine if he left her alone just long enough to visit the bathroom. He'd even told her not to move from the booth. Clearly he'd underestimated her disregard for her own safety.

He punched the booth in frustration and drew a curious look from both the two asari in the booth next to him and the one who had been waiting on them. "Um…is there a problem?" the waitress asked him carefully, clearly keeping her distance. Jaksus growled and gestured to the empty spot Maria had been inhabiting. "Where'd the human I was with go?"

The Asari looked curious, "Her? I just assumed she went to the bathroom. She ordered a drink just after you got up and when I came back around her glass was empty and she was gone. I just assumed she had to go do her business."

Jaksus swore under his breath and fought off the anger he felt. "Right." he uttered through clenched teether, "Of course she ordered a drink."

The waitress suddenly looked rather worried, "She's not underage is she? I couldn't tell and her ID said she was old enough but I know those can be tampered with and I can never tell with humans but she did LOOK young."

Jaksus cooled enough to wave off the waitress, "No she's not underage. You're fine. She just-…damnit." he growled as he caught sight of a splash of red and blue amongst the sea of dancers. "Excuse me." he told her and then brushed past the Asari to chase after his fleeting charge.

He lost sight of her again somewhere amongst a group of wriggling Salarians and found himself pushed and shoved and grinded against as he tried desperately to find her again. When he did he was pissed.

"Krogan. Damnit. Why did it have to be Krogan?" Jaksus muttered, finally catching sight of red-hair amongst a mass of multi-colored muscle. He didn't know whether to take it as a bad or a good sign that the enormous brutes were smiling down at the petite human encircled between them. "Bad. It's gotta be bad considering it's her." he told himself. He pushed his way through the writhing throng of dancers and desperately made his way toward Maria and her dangerous entourage.

As he neared them he nearly tripped over himself in shock as he picked up the tail end of whatever Maria had been droning on about. None of what she said sounded anywhere close to good. "-just think that it might be easier if male humans worked that way. I could never understand all the mixed signals and subtext when I was in school. I didn't even know what it meant when you stuck a tie in the door-lock until I accidentally walked in on my college roommate consummating her relationship with her Applied Physics tutor."

"You think it'd be better for males to kill each over females?" the largest of the Krogan asked incredulously, his red-scarred face looked at Maria in disbelief and just the smallest hint of amusement.

"I dunno Wrex, I think that might just toughen up some of these softer aliens. Just think if you caught two Volus fighting it out over an Asari." The bulkier of the other two laughed his indigo-colored scales shining almost black under the club's lighting. He looked like he was the closest to laughing.

His buddy, a rather badly scarred greenish Krogan was grinning in a way that made Jaksus want to punch somebody. Probably him…and then probably Maria for being so stupid. "Ha! That I'd pay to see."

"You Two are truly juvenile." The red one, Wrex, shook his head in reply. Maria grinned and gestured with her drink.

"No! No! Really I think the only reason humanity's population has grown at the rate is has is because our system of courtship is so outdated, formal, and convoluted. If males simply fought over females, or even the other way around, well? Just think! The population might triple over night." She giggled and then stared wide-eyed and strangely at the ceiling as if coming to a sudden epiphany. "Oh god think of all the sex people would have if they didn't have to bother with all the societal pressures."

The two smaller Krogan chuckled, Wrex shook his head. "Or your population could halve itself. You ever see two Krogan beat each other to death over a fertile female? Entertaining sure, but not very effective at raising our numbers."

Maria blinked back into focus and seemed to consider this comment seriously for a moment, her brows cinching together in thought. "And that's the other thing! This Genophage, it lowers birth-rates correct?"

Jaksus panicked and picked up his pace. He could see the humor quickly draining out of the Krogan's faces. If there was one thing you didn't do when surrounded by a bunch of Krogan it was strike up a conversation about the Genophage. It never ended well.

Wrex growled and adjusted his stance, almost glaring at Maria. "Of course it does. Haven't you read any history other than your own?"

Maria simply grinned and nodded, gesturing with her drink, "Oh I have! But each race has it's own take on the matter and since there are no human books not he subject I've had to-"

Jaksus wrapped a hand around Maria's mouth and glared down at the human who continued to mutter past his hand for a few seconds before she finally stopped and looked up at him. He noticed, rather furiously, that her pupils were dilated and her face was flushed nearly as red as her hair. Clearly, she was drunk…or close enough to it. He wondered just how many drinks a human could down in five minutes while still managing to talk as much or as fast as Maria did. "Damnit Maria! I was only gone for five minutes. How did you manage all of…THIS, in five minutes?" The C-SEC officer snarled, flaring his mandibles in his frustration and anger.

The petite woman only smiled at him in a sloppy sort of way and made a vague gesture with the light-blue drink in her hand. "Jaksus! There you are! I ordered a drink while I was waiting for you and these lovely gentlemen…gentle…Krogan? Came in and I absolutely HAD to hear about this Salarian breeding contract they'd read about on the extranet that-"

"Stop." he growled, "Just…stop talking for five seconds." He glared at her and took another moment to examine how much of her drink was gone. She'd drained half of it. He wanted to shake her. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked her, this time speaking a tad more slow, hoping to get her to understand. Her lips took a downturn and she shot her blue eyes to the floor to gaze at her shoes in what Jaksus assumed was a guilty expression.

"Well this is just my second and I swear the first was something familiar…ish."

Jaksus' frown deepened and he eyed her drink. He then took it from her, sniffed it, and winced. "Damnit Maria, have you been drinking Asari cocktails?" he growled, furious. Everyone knew Asari drinks were strong. What's worse they were supposed to mess with your biotics in funny ways. He knew that there weren't any humans with biotic potential, but he doubted that meant much in the long run.

Maria let out a small titter of amusement and snatched her drink back, swallowing the rest of it before he could take it from her again. The two younger Krogan broke out laughing, the older one simply chuckled and shook his head. The ruddy Turian glared at his charge as she handed the empty glass back to him and grinned victoriously. "It kind of tastes like raspberries…a favorite of mine I'll admit. No alcoholic after-taste either which is nice. Although the way it makes my whole mind light up in warmth is truly just…amazing. You know, I'd try a Turian drink next if I weren't aware of the fact that it would kill me."

The oldest of the three Krogan, the badly scarred red individual with a wicked smile and a nasty looking piece on his hip; the one the others had called 'Wrex'; grinned and patted Maria encouragingly on the shoulder. She scooted forward a bit with each pat, her small frame unable to keep it's balance on both drink and light but forceful impact. "You got some guts for someone so small, human. You and the Turian dating or something?"

Jaksus looked appalled, Maria laughed and shook out her already wild hair, like a bird ruffling it's feathers. She tugged on a strand of that wild hair and smiled in a spectacularly dazed way. "Oh goodness no! He's just my bodyguard." She stopped for a moment and then made a strange, strained sound with her lips that dissolved into a giggle fit. Jaksus was fuming as she leaned in closer to the red Krogan and told him in a staged whisper, "He guards my body."

All three Krogan burst out laughing, although Wrex spared Jaksus a momentary look of sympathy in-between his deep breaths of humor. Jaksus had had enough. He grabbed Maria by the collar of her shirt and then threw all propriety out the window when she stumbled back and grinned up at him like a child. He knelt down, grabbed her around her knees, and swung her up and over his shoulder. "Alright, clearly somebody's had enough fun for one night. We're leaving."

Maria, wiggled for a second and then made a strangled sort of sound. For a moment Jaksus wondered if he'd somehow hurt her. Until she let out a deep and rather pleased moan…..that was also rather loud.

Jaksus had never beat a hastier retreat in his life. He could still hear the laughter of the three Krogan in his mind long after he'd made it out the Club's front door. Thankfully for him Maria kept her mouth shut the whole way back.

….

Neross: Well there you are my loyal readers. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Be glad I got it done at all. I've been extremely busy doing what I'm sure most of you have been doing. ( Playing Mass Effect 3 ). Frankly I'm just so tired of the debate over the whole thing that I'm not even going to bother stating how I felt about the game. As far as I'm concerned you either liked it or you didn't and that's about it. ( personally I liked everything about it but apparently that opinion is likely to get me lynched ).

Anyway, like always please remember to leave me a review letting me know what you thought and don't forget to check my profile for updates and news about me and all my stories.

Until next time my dear readers, keep on rocking out!


	4. Dicey Reiley

Neross: Well my dears time to move on to the next chapter don''t you think?

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

….

Maria felt a bit silly being carried like a sack of potatoes over her bodyguard's shoulder. But after the first block she didn't mind as much. The colors of the Citadel blurred by her in amazing arrays. What's more she could feel Jaksus' muscles shifting beneath her. As he walked and his grip shifted Maria began to analyze the differences between his anatomy and hers. Though the more he moved the more and the more she thought about his biology, the more warmth exploded into her head. She made a mental note to herself to analyze this strange effect of Asari cocktails on human physiology sometime later.

And then Maria's mind wiped clean as Jaksus suddenly slowed to a stop. Maria, curious over their sudden pit-stop wiggled uncomfortably. She knew they couldn't be back at the apartment already. They still had three blocks on this ward, then an elevator ride, then five more blocks, then another elevator ride, then two more blocks, and then the lobby of the apartment building, then another elevator, then two doors before finally they got back. Clearly something was wrong. So she twisted as best she could to peek up over Jaksus' grip on her waist and his shoulder beyond that.

Their path was cut off by a group of Alliance Marines. All men as well. Maria didn't recognize any of them but could tell from a glance that they meant violence. From their posturing she assumed it was due to an ignorant hatred for aliens. Probably exclusively Turians considering one of the marines looked old enough to have been a veteran of the first contact war. All in all, their situation did not look good.

"What do you think you're doing with that girl?" the oldest one snapped, his voice harsh with accusation.

Another one took a step forward and cracked his knuckles in an imposing way, glaring death at Jaksus. "Put down the kid scaly-ass before we put you down."

Jaksus growled in response and shifted, reaching for something Maria couldn't see. The Alliance Marines closed in. And Maria, in her drunken haze, let out the loudest, most derisive, snort she could muster.

Everyone froze and turned some surprised and irritated glances her way. Maria shimmied her way down out of Jaksus' grasp. What she hadn't considered was how much the ground would sway when she stepped foot on it. But a little stumbling aside she felt fine. Well, alright, the colors of everything around her were still…off. But she couldn't think about that at the moment. So she leveled the marines with her best glare and tried her best to look intimidating.

"First of all, I am not a girl. I am a full grown woman." she paused for a second as colors swam before her again and then she blinked and everything was set right. Mostly. "Which is probably why I'm drunk…ish."

She hear somebody chuckle.

….

Jaksus knew they were being followed the second they entered the block. He'd thought taking the route closest to the newly formed human neighborhood would be the safest way to go. But apparently he'd been wrong.

He hoped that they'd be satisfied with simply following. Which, yet again, proved to be a false assumption on his part. Six men, all in Alliance uniform, pulled up in front of him and blocked his path completely. He sensed the animosity immediately and stopped in his tracks. He could feel Maria shift on his shoulder and he felt anticipation eat at his gut. The oldest of the human's, one with a clear talon scar on his face, stepped forward with a glare.

"What do you think you're doing with that girl?"

Jaksus was about to respond when another human stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and glaring daggers at him. There was murder in his gaze. "Put down the kid scaly-ass before we put you down."

Jaksus lowered his brow-plates furiously. He did not take well to threats. What's more, he took even less well to humans who made threats. So he growled in anger and reached for the pistol hidden underneath his shirt upon his back. He knew a fight when he saw one. What's more he wasn't the sort to take that kind of insult sitting down. His muscles tensed, ready to fight, even as the Alliance Marines started to do the same.

And then, in that instant before he drew fire and the mob closed in on him, Maria shattered the entire moment with a loud snort. Jaksus was soon faced with no option but to set her loose as she began to wiggle desperately upon his shoulder. The tiny woman took a single step and faltered. Despite himself Jaksus rushed toward her in order to catch her if she tripped. But Maria managed to catch herself and he'd be damned if she didn't pull herself up to look as intimidating as a Volus playing at Primarch.

He fought hard not to laugh as she glared down the marine's that stood in their way. "First of all," she began in as loud and clear a voice as he had ever heard of her, "I am not a girl. I am a full grown woman."

She seemed to swoon a bit, as if taken to a sudden case of vertigo, no doubt still suffering from the cocktails she had downed not ten minutes ago. She righted herself quickly enough, shook her head, and blinked owlishly. After a second she glared again and moved on with her reproach of the marines. "Which is probably why I'm drunk…ish."

Jaksus couldn't help the chuckle that burst forth from him. Maria turned, shot him a scalding look, and then rounded on the marines again when one of them snickered. "Second!" she snapped before leveling a wobbly finger at the Turian beside her. "He is trying to get me home safely."

Jaksus and the marines both looked rather surprised at this confession. The marines because they hadn't been expecting to be proven wrong. And Jaksus because he believed she was going to out his position as her bodyguard, putting them at risk. Again. Apparently even drunk she managed to retain the idea that that wasn't something she should be shouting in the middle of the wards.

Or maybe she was just leaving that part out because she was drunk.

"And thirdly, " she started up again puffing up her shoulders like a Varren preparing for a blood fight, "and most importantly. How DARE you threaten him just because he's a Turian and I happen to be human."

At this Jaksus felt a stab of guilt. He knew what she meant. Anyone could figure out what she meant. She was calling the human's racists. And the worst part was that if the situation had been reversed he would have been just as guilty as they were. The marines seemed to visibly recoil or deflate at her accusation. Save for one stupid one that stepped up and hesitantly pointed at Jaksus accusingly. "Yeah, but he-"

"He what?" Maria snarled, stalking up to the man so quickly that Jaksus didn't have a chance to stop her. She was uncomfortably close to the man, baring teeth in his face. Or as close to his face as she could get considering he was at least a head taller than she was. Still the effect seemed to be devastating as the marine looked as if she'd actually struck him across the face. "He WHAT? Was carrying me, unprotesting, down the street? You are all jerks!" Maria cried.

She turned on her heel and strode back to Jaksus' side with sure steps. When she reached him she turned back and raised her chin defiantly at the now deflated looking group. "I expect better of the Alliance."

Jaksus couldn't help the tiny smile that creeped up onto his face. Maria was like a tiny little whirlwind. In an instant she had utterly destroyed a violently tense atmosphere and replaced it with a mood that even a child could easily defuse. For a drunk it was pretty damn impressive.

The marines dispersed pretty quickly after that and Jaksus and Maria were allowed to make their way back on their own. This time Maria walked and although she may have wobbled a bit a first she seemed pretty sober by the time they finally made it back to their apartment.

They were quiet for a little while. Jaksus sat Maria down on the couch and forced her to drink a couple glasses of water as well as to eat what she called 'crackers' in order to make sure she got the alcohol out of her system. And while she ate and drank he turned on the television and busied himself with the news for a bit. Until at last she finished and set her plate and glass aside to simply…stare at him. He lasted four minutes before he decided he couldn't take how creepy it was anymore.

He turned off the TV and gave her his full attention. He let out a sigh and folded his arms over his knees. "Alright Maria what is it?"

She twitched her lip a bit and then nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment before she finally ran a hand through her hair. "Jaksus do you hate me?" she asked at last.

Jaksus felt another twist in his gut that he was sure was guilt. It was true that at first he hated the idea of living with her. But he had to admit that she wasn't so bad. She had stood up for him earlier and she seemed passionate about her work at the very least. If he really wanted to admit it to himself he had actually grown to like her a bit. Not much. But a bit at least. She seemed a bit helpless most of the time but she'd shown such strength earlier. It was hard not to appreciate a woman who stood up for herself of the things she believed in.

So after a moment Jaksus finally shook his head, "No Maria, I don't hate you. You can be a challenge to work with, especially when you don't listen or just do what you want. But I do not hate you."

She smiled a bit but still did not look reassured. She looked at her feet and wiggled them a moment before at last she looked back up at him. "Even though I'm human?" she asked him quietly.

He clenched his teeth and flinched his mandibles as the guilt continued to pile onto him. He'd have to admit that Maria probably could tell more about him than he would like. Still he rolled his shoulders and prepared to tell the truth. "Yes, even though you're a human I still don't hate you. But….it's true that in general I'm not all that fond of humanity."

Maria made something of a noncommittal noise but then smiled a bit more assuredly. "Do you mind if I ask why you don't like humans?"

Jaksus scratched the back of his neck and glared at the floor. He didn't really want to tell her that it had been born from years of tiny grievances. Plus one other event that had left a deep lasting impression that he truly did not appreciate reliving. At least…not yet. "Most of the one's I've met have just been arrogant and ignorant and just so entitled. ….You guys show up and you just expect to be treated like you're the saviors of the damn galaxy."

To his surprise Maria giggled a bit and smiled at him. "Well…I suppose most humans have a tough time thinking about the good of the community at large. Many humans just want to be the hero of their own stories. We're social creatures but we're also obsessed with individuality. But I guess that's why I admire Turians so much."

Jaksus looked at Maria in surprise and simply, blinked for a minute. "You…admire us?" he asked incredulously.

Maria nodded and drew her legs up to her chest and hugged them. She stared at him over the tops of her knees and toyed with her toes. "Um…yes. From what I've read Turians believe in what's best for the group. I just…I really like the idea of unity. Working together for everyone's benefit…that sort of thing….would've been nice growing up." Although her mouth was hidden Jaksus could see the strange downturn of her eyebrows. Clearly she was feeling upset.

With some effort Jaksus cleared his throat and then stood, ready to finish the strange day and finally get some sleep. "Well, whatever I may think of the rest of your race, I don't hate you. You're actually pretty tolerable if I have to be honest. And despite being stone to the wall drunk you handle yourself pretty damn well. But…from now on…do me a favor…and don't go running off on your own. And…no more Asari cocktails."

Maria chuckled and nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely no more Asari cocktails."

…

Neross: Alright you guys that's it for now. You know the drill. Leave me a review and I'll post that much faster. And don't forget to check my profile for updates and news on my latest stories.

Until next time dear readers, keep on rocking out!


	5. Give 'Em Hell, Kid

Neross: Hey would you look at that. A new chapter. Damn I'm good.

Warning: This fanfiction may contain violence, foul language, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…..

Maria woke up the next day thankfully without a headache or a sick feeling in her stomach. No doubt mostly thanks to Jaksus' attentive care. She'd have to thank him again, for taking such good care of her, she knew she'd been more than just a little bit of a handful. Still when she awoke Maria did not feel as she should. She felt warm, fuzzy, and rather…drained…as if she'd been through a rather Cathartic experience. Yet it was not an…unhappy feeling. She sat up in her bed, stretched, and then froze in all further action as she heard two rather loud male voices out in the hall.

She blinked curiously at her door and simply stared at it for a while as she tried to listen to what the voices were saying. She recognized one rather clearly as Jaksus and the other was familiar as well, though not as familiar as she would have liked. She listened intently for almost minute before finally the sound of something banging loudly forced her to leap from her bed and run for the door. She didn't bother to change out of the large t-shirt she was wearing or the loose fitting shorts she had on underneath that, as she could hear some kind of scuffle going on on the other side of the door.

The second the door slid open Maria found herself staring at the strangest scene of violence she had ever seen. Jaksus and a krogan with dark indigo colored scales and fierce scars were grappling each other at the floor just outside the door to her room. With a yelp of surprise Maria jumped back as they rolled and Jaksus was kicked back and flew nearly against the wall. Maria swore aloud and quickly did the only thing she could think of.

She dived into a box of emergency supplies just beside her bed and pulled out the compact fire extinguisher she'd bought. In an instant she was back in the hall and glaring at the two alien men still fighting, this time with Jaksus pinned to the wall bare talons at both his hands and his feet scratching at the Krogan that was attempting to throttle him. Maria glared at them and took aim with the extinguisher, "Stop it this instant both of you!"

When the fighting simply continued Maria rolled her eyes, snarled, then pulled the trigger on the implement in her hands. As she sprayed both men she heard them sputter, saw them both flail and then watched as they toppled head over heel over the side of the couch and then onto the floor. There they lay sputtering, covered in a thin white film and Maria let out a loud sigh and placed her hand on her hip as she glared down at both Jaksus and the Krogan, who she could now recognize as one of the three she had met the night before. "Good. Well now that you're both done with the beauty contest we can move on to the bathing suite round. How does that sound?"

The Krogan looked at her, turned and exchanged a look of confusion with Jaksus, and then looked back at her as if she were insane. "What are you talking about you crazy little pyjak?"

Jaksus rolled over and began to brush himself off as he stood and eyed Maria warily, "I'm afraid I have to agree with the Krogan Maria. You are not making any sort of sense."

Maria tilted her head and then smirked derisively, "Good. Now we all feel the same level of confusion. Do me a favor. The next time you want me to wake up…try knocking. Or, failing that, you can try shooting a gun off. I figure both are considerably more pleasant than waking up to a fight just outside my door."

Jaksus and the Krogan exchanged glances, both apparently seemed on the verge of a mixture of laughter, shame, and total humiliation. Maria simply smiled a bit further, "Although I suppose I can tell my brother that I finally got to see two aliens of the same sex going at it before he did." At this both of the men looked repulsed and shot each other with equal looks of horror. Maria fought back a harsh giggle, "Now, if you don't mind holding off on beating each other to death, I'm going to get dressed. Then perhaps we can discuss why you two started this early morning scuffle in the hallway."

And with that Maria turned on her heel and stalked back into her room. As the door shut behind her she could hear a sharp bark of laughter that was soon followed by another rumble of laughter she hadn't heard before…but that sent flame streaking across her face. She suddenly thought she might have left the room too soon, she would have liked to have seen Jaksus laugh.

…

Jaksus slept very little that night after his talk with Maria. He felt pangs of guilt he had never truly known before and which he could not stand. They drove his thoughts to distraction and what little dreams he had to nightmares. He woke up hours before his charge did and found he could not bring himself to wake her, or to go back to sleep himself. So he brewed himself some coffee and made himself a small breakfast which he ate quickly and without relish.

He was cleaning his plate when he heard someone pounding upon the apartment's door. Suddenly irrationally afraid that the knocking would wake Maria up Jaksus ignored his plates for the moment and crossed to the door in a few quick strides. He hadn't bothered to dress, and regretted it now as he opened the door to find a Krogan standing at the door.

Jaksus frowned, recognizing the Krogan but unsure from where. And then the Krogan grinned and let out a chuckle and Jaksus was suddenly reminded of one particular event from the night before. Maria, surrounded by three Krogan. One individual in particular had found her to be particularly entertaining. An individual with dark indigo scales and a richly scarred face. "I'm beginning to think Wrex was right about you two. I came here expecting to see that hilarious little human from last night and find you here. Either she's someone particularly important or you two are having fun between the sheets."

Jaksus snarled, the Krogan may have been as thickly muscled as any Krogan worth his salt would be, he was still shorter. And like hell would Jaksus be treated like a joke. " Is that a threat or do you Krogan have such bad tastes in humor that you need to mock anyone smaller than you?" Jaksus sneered.

The Krogan's smile vanished and he glared up at Jaksus with enough venom to sear through the floor beneath the turian's feet. "Awfully testy in the morning aren't you Turian? What's the matter? Didn't get enough sleep? Busy? Or do you suffer from a guilty conscious the rest of your kind seem to lack over dooming mine to die a slow death?"

The sound that came from Jaksus' throat was primal and furious. He launched forward and punched the Krogan straight in the face. He lurched backward and then with a snarl barreled into the C-SEC officer barring the doorway. Jaksus was thrown back and sent skidding across the floor, his shoulder painfully scraping the ground as he went. He scrambled quickly to his feet even as the Krogan charged him again and knocked him into the wall.

Jaksus could feel the air pushed painfully from his lungs but rage drove him onward. He slashed at his opponent with all that he had, thankful for perhaps the first time that he had not dressed. The Krogan's blood seeped out from each scratch Jaksus inflicted upon him. Until at last Jaksus gained enough leverage to kick the Krogan off of him and to the floor. As the Krogan attempted to recover Jaksus dived upon him and proceeded to punch him as furiously as he could in his face. He could feel the alien beneath him striking back as furiously as Jaksus gave.

For a second Jaksus thought he felt a rush of air but he decided it must have only been his imagination. And then he heard a yelp and knew Maria must have woken up at last. Which meant he had to end this soon. He dug his talons into the Krogan's collar and leaned forward enough to dig his knee into his opponent's gut. The Krogan groaned in pain and then growled in fury and threw him to the side before Jaksus found himself once again pinned to the wall.

He clawed and scratched as the Krogan attempted to choke the life from him and from some distance he heard another voice cry out in anger, but it was far gone from his mind. He kicked the Krogan, digging his feet and second talons in as deep as they would go into his attacker's clothing and flesh. And then, in an instant Jaksus' world went white and freezing cold. He sputtered and tried to block the spray of fire-retardant, as did his attacker. Unfortunately this threw them both off balance and, limbs flying end over end, until Jaksus wound up sprawled upon the ground on the other side of the couch next to his opponent who seemed about as confused and irritated as he.

He'd never felt so damn cold in his life and he blinked past the white film to see Maria, dwarfed in her large sleeping shirt and small plain shorts, glaring down at them both. He swore internally for not being able to solve a problem that she again seemed to so easily defuse. Although by that glare on her face he was unsure if the problem was solved at all. "Good." she snapped with an irritated smile, "Well now that you're both done with the beauty contest we can move on to the bathing suite round. How does that sound?"

Jaksus was suddenly confused. He had no idea what she meant and apparently neither did his opponent. He exchanged a look with the Krogan beside him just in case but apparently they were both lost for the Krogan sat up and spoke out first. "What are you talking about you crazy little pyjak?"

Jaksus took the moment to stand and brush the white film from his face and the side of his neck where it was so cold it nearly burned. "I'm afraid I have to agree with the Krogan Maria. You are not making any sort of sense."

And then the tiny little human woman tilted her head to the side, cocked one eyebrow, and looked for all the world like a villain in some terrible tv show. "Good. Now we all feel the same level of confusion. Do me a favor. The next time you want me to wake up…try knocking. Or, failing that, you can try shooting a gun off. I figure both are considerably more pleasant than waking up to a fight just outside my door."

Jaksus felt like he'd been hit in the gut. He probably had, but this blow was not physical and it burned all the same. She was lecturing them…and damn if she wasn't effective at it. She was as intimidating as his mother was when furious and what's worse she wielded guilt like the most effective of weapons. Even the Krogan seemed effectively shamed into silence, though there was the smallest hint of a smile blooming at the edges of his expression. It was almost enough to make the Turian laugh as well.

It was hard to be intimidated with Maria, and it was almost hilarious to feel it in this instance, covered in white film as he was. And then Maria's smile grew just a touch wider and something sparkled in her eyes. "Although I suppose I can tell my brother that I finally got to see two aliens of the same sex going at it before he did."

Jaksus felt a surge of disgust and nearly retched at the thought Maria has implanted within his head. He shot a look of horror in the Krogan's direction who did the same in return. They both quickly took to pushing themselves as far apart as possible. Maria looked as if she were fighting back a burst of laughter. "Now, if you don't mind holding off on beating each other to death, I'm going to get dressed. Then perhaps we can discuss why you two started this early morning scuffle in the hallway." she stated with a strict little twitch to her lips before she turned on her heel and went straight back to her room.

The second her door shut the Krogan burst out in laughter and soon Jaksus could not help but to follow his example. The laughed for sometime until at last Jaksus turned with a smile to the Krogan who had attacked him. "Alright. So. Since we've effectively made asses of ourselves I guess it's only fair that we know each other's names. Jaksus Vikil, with CSEC."

The Krogan chuckled and finally stood, wiping a good deal of white film from his arm. "Urdnot A'Garr. I used to be a scout for my clan until the heads of my clan went at each other's throats. Now I am a freelance mercenary for hire. And sufficiently bored out of my skull when I am not on assignment." He pointed a hand at Maria's closed door and grinned widely. "Your girl there has given me more cause to laugh than I've had in years. Damn thing seems like varren that talks, walks on two legs, and thinks it's a Salarian."

Jaksus chuckled and wiped the last bit of white film from his shirt and then spared a glance at the door not five feet away. "Well she's something I'll give her that."

….

Maria liked Urdnott A'Garr. The Krogan was surprisingly well read, though he seemed to be more interested in modern events than those of the past. He thought Maria's views were interesting and mostly hilarious, it seemed as if he laughed at every other word she said. She had no idea why the Krogan found her to be so funny, she was, after all, fairly serious. What's more Jaksus never laughed at anything she said at all.

But at the very least something had changed between them. Maria insisted on going out nearly every day to observe the Citadel and it's myriad of cultures. Jaksus always accompanied her, having established several rule for her to follow for her safety. The most important of which was that she should never go out on her own. So he was always there with her.

And every now and then A'Garr would join them when they went out. There were times when Jaksus would growl in disapproval. Especially when they went out to bars or clubs and A'Garr would attempt to get her drunk. He succeeded only once before Jaksus made sure she never had more than one drink a night. Though this only succeeded in making A'Garr then attempt to get Jaksus drunk instead.

Maria actually liked this idea, and secretly attempted to help him. Jaksus begrudged them both for their attempts. Thought with some help they succeeded once. Though, sadly, only once. After that night Jaksus began to discourage any attempt to visit places that served large varieties of alcohol.

Still, things had improved, and Maria's work went well. And then, big news hit the Citadel that changed everything.

The Flotilla had come to the Citadel in order to trade. There was a large amount of protest as well as argument as soon as the news hit. And Maria…was ecstatic. She wanted nothing more than to go the docks and to meet with the Quarians. But Jaksus would have none of it. He told her endlessly of the dangers. How it was unsecured and how she would most likely find herself robbed blind. Maria was furious about his refusal and argued with him at every moment, to no avail.

Until finally, one day, A'Garr came to take her out to lunch. And, while Jaksus went to go to the restroom, asked her why she seemed so irritated.

"You seem ready to bite the head off that Turian of yours. Did you two fight over some damn misplaced fork or something?" The Krogan chuckled and shook his head though his gold eyes seemed to always watch her.

Maria threw a hand through her hair and glared at the leftovers of her meal, she'd been furious for days. "Jaksus refuses to let me go down to the docks to see the Quarians. And I'm DYING to go. All I want is to meet one. Talk with one. It's the closest I'll ever get. I may NEVER get this chance again."

A'Garr chuckled and then shot her a smirk that was full of his usual mischief. "So…why don't you just go? I heard from the tight-ass himself that you're exceptionally good at sneaking off when you're not supposed to."

Maria paused for a second and then glanced up at the Krogan with a dawning realization. Slowly an excited smile bloomed upon her face and she began to twitch with anticipation despite herself. "That," she muttered, pushing back her chair, "Is an excellent idea. You coming?"

A'Garr laughed and stood as well. "Wouldn't miss it for the world kid."

They were gone before Jaksus had even finished washing his hands.

…..

Neross: Well there you are my dears. I hope you all enjoyed it. Who the hell would've guessed that watching The Tudors would provide such excellent inspiration. *chuckles* Ah well. Hopefully this creative streak will keep coming so that I can get on to erm…happier things?

Well anyway, until next time my faithful readers. Keep on rocking out!


	6. Set Fire to the Rain

Neross: Well you guys let's just jump right back on in shall we?

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…..

Jaksus was going to shoot her. He could feel it pressed against his back in it's concealed holster underneath his shirt and he itched to pull it out. He'd told her no. He'd told her no for a week. He'd told her no until he was hoarse. He should've known. He'd gotten complacent again. Maybe it was because A'Garr had been quiet lately and Maria had seemed content. But he'd been wrong to trust her. You couldn't trust humans, he'd forgotten that, he wouldn't forget it again.

Especially now that he found her in the one place he'd forbidden her to go. The docks, surrounded by a crowd of Quarians and one laughing Krogan. Jaksus felt the growl rising up in him with every step he took closer to that bold, little, laughing, pain in his ass. And she was laughing, that tiny little laugh of hers that sounded like the tittering of a bird. A bird that mocked him with every little sound it made.

She'd saddled up to the crew of one ship in particular it seemed. An old Asari frigate that looked older than Jaksus' father, maybe even his grandfather. The damn thing was in good shape though, you had to give the Quarians that. They knew how to keep their ships in shape. And oddly enough he found that that was what Maria was discussing with the gaggle of Quairans around her once he got within hearing range.

"I've heard from the Captain that it was in dreadful shape when it was originally purchased. But it runs smooth now. Best little frigate I've ever served on." A Quarian engineer was bragging, his orange suit with it's bold blocky pattern standing out against the others.

A younger one, his suit dressed in soft greens and subtle but engaging swirls just laughed. "Don't give us that again Ilya. You've only ever served on the Haedra. You won't fool anyone with your tales, not even our fine human friend here."

Maria giggled and shook her head, and made a gesture toward the ship. "It certainly looks like it's in fine shape. But the name! That's the most interesting bit I'll be honest. Does it mean anything? Or is it simply the name of a system or planet?"

The young Engineer in green laughed again and shook his head, "I couldn't tell you I'm afraid. We've never bothered to change the name and it's been that way as long as anyone living can remember."

A female Quarian in a soft blue giggled, wiggling her fingers suggestively. "I heard it's an old slang term for a spot on an Asari's body."

A'Garr chuckled but threw back his head in disbelief. "You've got that all wrong there. The term you're thinking of is Azure. Totally different, although-"

"Alright I think everyone can just stop the conversation there." Jaksus growled as he finally strolled close enough to be seen as well as heard.

A'Garr shot him an annoyed glare and crossed his arms across his chest while Maria flinched and slowly turned toward Jaksus with a guilty looking smile. "Er…hello Jaksus." she said after a moment. The Turian glared at her and grabbed her by her upper arm to pull her close and whisper furiously in her ear.

"We'll talk about this back at the apartment. Say farewell to the Quarians we're leaving."

Maria quickly wrenched her arm out of his grasp and stood her ground, her hands fists at her side. "I'm not going. This is my only chance to learn about Quarian culture and I'm not giving up on that just because you say so."

Jaksus growled and sat his hands on his hips. "This is not up for discussion Maria. The docks are a dangerous place and with them crowded like this I can't do my job properly."

Maria frowned, though her expression softened around the eyes. "I was fine. I had A'Garr with me and nothing happened."

Jaksus twitched his mandibles in frustration, "Just because something didn't happen doesn't mean it won't happen at all."

There was a subtle clearing of a throat behind them both and human and Turian turned to see the Quarian engineer dressed in green standing behind him, the rest of the small Quarian group looking on over his shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt. But we couldn't help overhearing. Is there some sort of problem?"

Jaksus sighed out his irritation and stood up a bit straighter, "I'm sorry. But it's just not safe for this particular human to be down here. I'm her bodyguard and she ditched me back at a cafe' in order to disobey my direct order not to come here."

A'Garr let out an annoyed sounding huff and shook his head at the C-SEC officer, "I would have too if you were keeping me from doing my job."

Jaksus turned a sharp glare at the Krogan and took a step forward as he stood on edge, ready to restart the fight they'd had when they'd first met. "Just what the hell do you mean by that?"

"It's Maria's job to study alien cultures, the Council expects her to give a thorough and extensive report that analyzes our similarities and differences. Yet when she gets her biggest, if only, chance to study Quarian culture you tell her no. How do you think the Council will react when they get around to reading her study and find she hasn't included these suit-rats in it? I bet that'll go over real well considering how they're all well aware that the Flotilla actually came to the Citadel and practically offered Quarian culture up on a silver platter." A'Garr ground out at him, glaring righteously at him.

Jaksus deflated and mentally slapped his hand to his forehead. He hadn't considered any of that. He'd figured that the Council would only want to see a study done about the Council races but Maria had been furiously studying every race she came across. What's more there were plenty of studies down on the Council races in the past, but nothing like what Maria was undertaking. Jaksus turned to the petite woman and rubbed at the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I'm uh…I'm sorry Maria. For uh…for forbidding you to come here."

The Turian shook his head after this and then allowed his furious glare to return as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at the smiling human who looked just a little bit too pleased with herself. "But I swear if you ditch me one more time I'm going to tie you down in your room and leave you there."

Maria's expression fell and her eyes went wide as her face lit up red in embarrassment. There was an amused collection of laughter from the Quarians as the green dressed Engineer took a step forward and placed a hand on Maria's shoulder in a friendly way. "I didn't know humans could change color, or that they were so interested in learning about the Flotilla. How about we make a comprise hm? I'm having dinner tonight with the Captain and his family, you can join us. I'm sure the Captain would be delighted to meet all three of you."

The red in Maria's face vanished as her eyes lit up in glee. She turned an expectant look toward Jaksus, her expression pleading him to agree. The Turian simply shook his head and let out a short breath of amusement, she was like a child who'd been offered a trip to the candy store. "That should be fine. Is there anyway we can contact you about the arrangements?"

The Engineer nodded and lifted his arm so he could begin to type in a few things on his omnitool. "Of course. Here, I'll give you my email address. You can contact me at it whenever you like. May name is Nava'Sh'Var vas Haedra. I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your names."

Jaksus shifted his weight, contemplated how much to say before finally just giving up. "I'm Officer Jaksus Vikil, with C-SEC. The human is under my charge. She's Maria St. George. And the Krogan here is our uh…friend…Urdnott A'Garr."

A'Garr chuckled and readjusted his stance, grinning. "Think of me as a back-up babysitter. The kid tends to grow on you after awhile." And then the Krogan turned a wicked glance toward Jaksus and sent him a smug, knowing, smile. "The human's not so bad either."

…

Maria spent two hours trying on different outfits, and trying to fix her hair into something resembling a respectable or even a manageable appearance. Unfortunately she'd not only had no luck, she'd become so frustrated that she was at the point of tears. Her hair stuck out at every angle and she stood in a mismatch shirt and pants. Her lip quivered and she looked down at her sticky hands covered in the anti-frizz gel she'd been using to try and tame her wild hair.

She started to cry, big droplets that refused to stop. She hiccuped and sniffed and wiped her nose on her slightly too-large sleeve. She was so wrapped up in her misery that she never heard the knock on her door or the subsequent yelling that went on afterwards. It was not until she actually felt Jaksus grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her that she managed to notice that she wasn't alone.

"What in the world is wrong with you? I was knocking and calling for you for nearly ten minutes!" He scolded her, but the scolding sounded more worried than mad. He took her face in his hands and turned her, forced her to look at him. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you crying?"

She sniffled again and fought against her quivering lip. She grabbed at her hair and chocked back a sob. "I …I was trying to fix my hair. And I-…it just kept getting worse." She threw up her hands in frustration and then pounded them against her thighs, big droplets cascading from her eyes. "This stupid hair! I just…I just want to be normal….I just want to be pretty for once. I'm never pretty. I'm just cute. No one ever thinks I'm pretty."

His expression fell. She worried she'd said something wrong. Done something wrong. The tears began to flow freer now in bigger faster numbers.

Jaksus sighed and took her into his lap and rocked her for a moment, he made soothing sounds in her ear and rubbed her arm in a comforting way. "We'll go wash out your hair…and although I know absolutely nothing about it I'll help you fix it." Her sobs quieted and he shook his head at her. "You'll turn heads Maria…"

…..

He tried to be gentle as he helped to scrub out all the product weighing down Maria's hair. He had her head bent over the low bathtub in his half of the apartment since her bathroom had only a shower. He had her in a towel from the waist up in order to keep her clothes from getting wet and worked with the nozzle from the shower to try and get her hair rinsed clean.

When the suds and gunk finally faded away he took out the things she used to wash her hair. He didn't understand humans. He didn't understand why they needed all these things to keep clean. He didn't understand Maria…but he liked her. He didn't really know why he liked her…she was just such a helpless little thing. But she had such a strange amount of potential. And at times she showed strength he'd never seen in any other woman. But then there was this.

He sighed as he rubbed the first bottle into her hair and he smiled as she shivered under him and then giggled. "What? What is it?" he asked her with a grumble.

She pulled in something of a snicker and pulled her towel a little tighter around her. " Nothing it's just…it tickled."

He couldn't help the smirk that bloomed upon his face. Nor the chuckle that blossomed afterward. "How can you feel anything up there? I was sure there'd be nothing but pulsating brain matter. What with how big your brain is."

She giggled again. "I've got a skull…and hair can't grow out of brain matter."

He chuckled and pulled down the nozzle to rinse out her hair again. "Of course you do." He moved the nozzle out of the way and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And apparently it's ticklish."

He expected her to laugh, expected her to push him away or tell him not to dare. But instead she went still and everything from her neck up turned so red he thought she might be trying to blend in with her hair. "Maria?" he asked, slightly concerned.

She made a muffled strangled sound and tugged on her towel, clinging to it. "I'm okay. Can we um…can we finish up? I…I don't want to be late."

He frowned in confusion but went back to his task. "Sure." he told her, "We're almost done here anyway."

…..

Neross: I'm so sorry it took so long to get this up. I got distracted by uh…things. Namely tumblr. I blame tumblr. In any case my dear readers I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Don't forget to leave me a review to get me through my distractions faster and to let me know how I'm doing.

Until next time, keep on rocking out!


	7. Scared

Neross: Sorry for the long absence folks. I got caught up in work and school and real life issues. But I'm back now and ready to get back to it. So let's dive right back in shall we?

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…..

Maria's hair was perfect by the time Jaksus was done with it. What's more they actually managed to arrive on time to their dinner meeting with the Quarian Captain and his small family. Which Maria was more than grateful for. If she were to be honest she simply did not want to spend any more time alone with Jaksus than was utterly necessary.

The talk they'd had as he'd washed her hair had made something suddenly very clear to her. Jaksus was not just a Turian, not just a cop, and also not just her bodyguard. He was also male. One who was more than likely very sexually active. What's more his voice had an amazingly pleasing base to it that always seemed to make Maria's skin quiver when he got too close.

She'd known all these things already, but somehow having him wash her hair and tease her as he had had brought it all startlingly into sharp focus. She'd have liked to simply forget the whole embarrassing situation. However she couldn't seem to get the event out of her mind. She paid as much attention to the Captain and his family as she could. But time and time again she kept finding herself drawn to running that moment over in her mind. Or else stealing glances at her bodyguard from the corner of her eye.

She'd been doing just that when the Quarian mechanic who'd offered them the dinner meeting finally arrived. He came up on her from behind though and startled her nearly out of her seat. Not only had she been too busy staring at Jaksus to notice Nava's approach but the Quarian's hand on her shoulder was sudden and nightmarishly cold. Thankfully she managed to recover quickly and apologized though she could not tell what, if any, effect her apology had had.

The green-clad Quarian simply chuckled, shook his head, and took the seat beside her. "It is alright my good little friend. It is my own fault for arriving late. Still it has provided me with a most interesting opportunity."

Maria rose her brows curiously as she studied the curious body language Nave gave off in the seat he took beside her. She'd begun to realize that Quarians talked with their hands, most likely a result of being forced to live inside environment suits that limited the amount of facial expression they were capable of showing. What's more the movements Quarians made to express themselves were more open and expressive, more honest, than Batarian body language and much more intricate than Asari, Turian, or any other race she'd previously encountered. She was so intent on studying what Nava's body was saying that she ended up missing what his mouth was saying completely. She did not even realize this was the case until she found the table had gone silent around her, obviously waiting for her response to a question the Quarian mechanic had asked.

Maria blinked, turned red up to her ears, ad sputtered. Oh! I'm sorry! I became distracted. Could you…um that is…do you mind repeating what you just said? Please?"

It was almost imperceptible but Maria was almost sure that Nava was smirking underneath his helmet. "Of course my friend. I was just saying how I have come to learn a new wide range of human expressions in the short time since I have met you. They are quite…fascinating…to watch upon your face."

Maria turned a much deeper shade of red and felt her skin prickle at the intonation in the Quarian's voice. She wondered if something was wrong with her brain or the pheromones that she was giving off that made everything seem so furiously intimate.

…..

Something was off with Maria, Jaksus was sure. She had been strangely quiet on the way to the restaurant and she kept sneaking glance at him out of the corner of her eye. It was, disconcerting.

Perhaps what made it worse was that if Jaksus hadn't known better he'd have thought that she suddenly considered him attractive. Which was absurd. After all, she was a human, a rather odd one but still quite human, and he was a mostly biased Turian. She couldn't possibly be attracted to him.

But the doubt persisted. It lasted through their meeting with the Captain Os'Van vas Haedra and his bondmate and child. And it only grew in him as they sat down to order and Maria seemed almost too distracted to decide on anything.

Things settled however once the waitress left and Maria was free to focus on her discussion with the Captain. She asked him questions concerning social freedoms, living space, the individual cultures of the ships and actually pleased the Captain when she remarked with fascination on the wide variance of Quarian accents she had so far observed. The Captain and his bondmate seemed thrilled with the human, and satisfied every question with long explanations and lengthy discourses. Which was good news in Jaksus' book. It meant Maria had her mind focused on work…and not on their odd encounter in the bathroom.

Which, unfortunately, is where his own mind kept slipping away to. Maria's sudden change to red and urge to change the subject had sparked a strange curiosity in him. He wondered if she'd reacted so strikingly due to being so young and socially awkward or if it was because she'd never had any sexual interaction before. It would make sense…considering what he knew of her. But it gave him an odd, unsettled feeling, in the pit of his stomach. If possible, the human appeared more innocent to him now then before.

He was drawn from his thoughts however as he looked up to see the Quarian mechanic from earlier approaching from the door. Clearly late and with a smudge of ash on his shoulder showing he'd probably just come from one sort of job or another. The Captain clearly didn't seem to mind his ship member's tardiness and waved the green-clad man over. Jaksus could tell he was about to apologize when he placed a hand on Maria's shoulder and the woman jumped and turned wildly in surprise, clearly taken aback by Nava' approach.

Maria quickly apologized, embarrassment flooding her face with a light pink shade that made her hair seem even more red in contrast. Nava, for his part, seemed to think her reaction was humorous for he brushed it off and took the seat beside her. "Coming late has allowed me to see yet another amazing example of human expression. Many of which I have seen today thanks to you and your amazing array of amusing reactions." he said as he took his seat.

Maria, however, seemed to be too distracted by the Quarian's chest and hands to have noticed what he said at all. In fact it was almost as if she were undressing him with her eyes and Jaksus became suddenly and irrationally concerned…and irritated. Maria blinked when she finally seemed to notice the table had gone quiet around her and stuttered another apology.

Jaksus bristled as Nava seemed to find her reaction not only amusing, but also to mean she found him….physically appealing…and sat up a bit straighter in his seat, his hand inching closer to hers on the table. "Of course my friend. I was just saying how I have come to learn a new wide range of human expressions in the short time since I have met you. They are quite…fascinating…to watch upon your face."

This time Maria did not miss the signals the Quarian was putting out. Her face flushed a deep red all the way to her ears and her eyes went wide in a mixture of embarrassment and astonishment. Jaksus clenched the fork in his hand to keep from stabbing it into the mechanic's hand. To the other side of him Jaksus could hear the Captain whisper something to his bondmate, sending the woman into a brief fit of giggles that made Maria look around as if in need of help. Her gaze landed on him.

Jaksus' insides crumbled away at that pitiful gaze and he cleared his throat and steered the conversation back to a subject that was more comfortable for everyone. He kept an eye on the green-clad mechanic throughout the rest of the meal and swore to stab him through the forearm if his hand inched any closer to his ward's.

….

Maria was more than thankful when Jaksus managed to spare her more embarrassment by changing the subject back to the Captain's duties upon the Haedras. It offered her a chance to shove the rest of the embarrassment and strange tension to the back of her mind where she could analyze it later.

The rest of the dinner went smoothly and Maria soon forgot all about her embarrassment in favor of the engaging conversation. She was rather disappointed to see the meal come to an end and say goodbye to the Captain and his family at the door. Nava, however, insisted on walking both herself and Jaksus back to their apartment.

Maria noticed that for whatever reason Jaksus considered this to be a terrible idea. The Turian grew stiff, his brows drew together, and he declined the offer through clenched teeth. Maria understood the concern, but found it odd just the same. The Quarian mechanic eventually gave up the idea and trudged back to the docks on his own, leaving Maria and Jaksus to walk back alone.

Maria had been dreading this part of the night. The silence between them both was filled with tension thick enough that it could almost be seen. And although Maria tried to start a conversation once or twice she found all she could come up with was idle prattle about the Captain's suit pattern matching his bondmate's. When this failed Maria finally simply accepted the silence and discontentedly settled with the idea that she might never talk with Jaksus alone again.

She had only just made this decision and resided to move on to more productive thinking pursuits, when a gang of Batarians suddenly rounded a corner in order to bar their way. The small squad drew weapons on them and barked at them to stop in their tracks. Jaksus let out a low growl and stepped in front of Maria, his hand reaching beneath his shirt. Maria felt her heart begin to flutter wildly in her chest out of fear and found herself unable to move.

One of the Batarians stepped forward, a grim scar running across his face that made him look as if his face was about to split open when he sneered and bared his teeth. "Don't even think about it! Drop the weapon or we shoot the human dead where she stands!" he barked, thrusting his gun in Maria's direction, making her heart make a painful stutter.

Jaksus glared at the scarred Batarian and looked back at Maria in order to whisper an order. "Maria. Listen to me. I need you to run. I need you to duck into that alley we just passed and call A'Garr and C-SEC. Do you think you can do that?"

Maria was so frightened she was sure her legs would shatter beneath her if she tried to move, but she nodded anyway. Jaksus gave her a brief, grim smile and turned back toward the Batarians who had all taken a step closer. "Now Maria! Go!" Jaksus shouted, pulling his gun from a concealed holster faster than Maria could see.

She turned, nearly slipping and falling as her feet nearly failed to gain any friction on the ground, and ran. She could hear the sound of gunfire behind her, sounds of pain and agony. Everything became a blur around her but somehow she found the alleyway Jaksus had told her to find. She dove into it, sending a small group of vermin running as she did so. Though her fingers were numb and she could barely hear over the sound of her own heartbeat she brought up her omnitool and got A-Garr on the first try.

The Krogan's face went from amused to serious in seconds as he could see Maria's haunted expression. As quickly as she could, stuttering over her own words Maria gave him her location and a brief description of what had happened. She couldn't tell what he said but he'd barely finished speaking before he'd severed the connection. Maria was pulling up the number for C-Sec, her fingers fumbling, when an angry voice sounded from her right and the opening of the alleyway.

She froze as rough hands lifted her and shoved her against the wall. The Batarian with the scar snarled in her face and shoved a gun to her head and Maria let out a sob and fevered scream. She wanted to kick, to bite, to scratch at the alien accosting her but her muscles all seemed frozen in fear. But she did cry. She cried because she knew Jaksus was dead. She cried because her first and only Turian friend had died protecting her. And she cried because she'd been unable to do anything to prevent it.

….

Jaksus swore as a bullet grazed his shields and shot into the ground beside him as he charged at the Batarian group before him. He knocked their leader to the ground and rounded on the two to his left, flinging them into the air with a swift biotic push before he rounded on the other two. He shot the first one through the forehead, but only managed to get the other one in the arm before he had to dodge a bullet aimed at his own head.

He rolled to the side, raised his gun and managed to squeeze off two rounds into his attacker's chest. The merc fell with a thud and Jaksus thanked the spirits that he'd listened to his friend Chellic back in basic training. He'd been right about the chaos and distraction thing when cornered.

He had little time to focus too much on his gratitude however, as the other three were recovering and he was now suffering the after-effects of having used his biotics. He noted with some relief that Maria had at least done as he said and gotten away to a safer distance.

Jaksus ducked behind the low wall of a nearby planter just in time to dodge a few heavy shots. He flinched, however, as a shotgun blast from one of the Batarians managed to bypass his shields and nick his shoulder. He swore, waited a moment as he drew in energy for another biotic attack and then dove to the other side of the planter and smacked one Batarian full in the chest with a powerful warp field.

The gunman fell and his buddy beside him soon joined him as Jaksus shot him once through the neck, and three times in the chest. He fell, gurgling, and Jaksus took the time to stand and swear as he counted the bodies. The leader with a scar was missing. Panic reaching him Jaksus bolted down the street back the way he and Maria had come.

He came upon the alley in less than a minute, found the scarred Batarian pinning Maria to a wall, shouting at her to be silent as she screamed and cried from fear in his grasp. Jaksus felt white hot fury flood his body, numbing him to the pain in his shoulder. He leveled his pistol and glared down the sight. "Hey!," he shouted, drawing the Batarian's attention, the four-eyed alien barely had time to turn and register the Turian with a gun before a major part of his brain was blown out through the exit wound at the back of his skull.

His body went limp and his grasp on Maria faltered as he dropped dead to the ground.

Maria sputtered, let out a choking sound and collapsed to her knees, shaking. She stared at the dead Batarian in horror, her lips moving though no sound came out. Jaksus was at her side instantly. He drew her away, out of the alley, and then sat her down on the street and forced her to look at him, he could feel her body shaking and the cold sweat and tears that poured off her in spades. He prayed to every God and religion he knew of in hopes that she hadn't gone into shock.

"Maria, " he told her, forcing himself to remain calm, forcing his voice to remain steady. "Maria it's okay. It's over now. They can't hurt you anymore. Maria? Maria focus on me, this is important. Did he hurt you? Are you injured anywhere?"

The small human woman stilled and shook her head, gazing up at him as he'd come from the dead. After a moment she finally she shook her head 'no' and then let out a long, painful, sob and clung to his chest. Jaksus let out a deep shuddering breath and let her cry against him for the second time that night.

He was still holding her when A'Garr and three C-SEC officials finally arrived.

…

Neross: Well guys there's another chapter down. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you're eager for the next one. Especially now that we've come to our second major conflict in this intricate story!

Remember if you're itching for more to check out my profile to find other stories or projects that I'm working on. And never forget that leaving me a review is the number one way to get me to update faster.

Until next time, keep on rocking out!


	8. Buried Alive

Neross: Well would you look at that? I love you all so much I'm updating ahead of schedule. ( My guess would be it was the all the wonderful reviews I received that helped motivate me :hint,hint: )

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…

It took two hours for C-SEC to collect their statements, clear their I.D.'s, and confirm their account. And in all that time Maria could not stop shaking. Jaksus tried his best to keep her calm, to assure her that the danger had passed. Too much had happened too fast for her and it seemed she simply couldn't handle any more stress. So Jaksus tried his best to speed up the interrogation process. And after those two hours were finally up the Turian bodyguard took turns carrying the distraught human back to their apartment with A'Garr. The Krogan was more than happy to help it seemed, having missed the action with the Batarians.

Somehow the big, indigo, merc even managed to lull Maria back into a calmer state, though she lay in their arms from that point on like a catatonic husk of her former self. Jaksus was worried but A'Garr assured him that the poor girl was probably just too tired to focus on what was going on…but too afraid to fall asleep. Somehow this did little ease Jaksus' state of mind.

The C-SEC bodyguard had her for the last few feet to the door so A'Garr took his leave of them there. He patted Maria on the arm, slapped Jaksus proudly on the back, and assured them both he'd be back to see how they were doing soon. Jaksus said his own goodbyes and somehow managed to safely get Maria to bed and, although fully clothed, the small woman seemed to fall asleep the second her head hit her pillow. The Turian was actually a bit relieved to see this and left her alone to secure the rest of the apartment. He found nothing out of place, no bombs hidden behind doors or under beds, and a scan of the apartment with his omnitool reveal nothing as well.

So Jaksus locked up for the night and collapsed into his own bed to enjoy a dreamless, exhausted sleep. He woke up later than usual and found the apartment still secure, and Maria still fast asleep. He left her alone and made himself a meager breakfast before he contacted C-SEC to find out more about the group that had attacked them the night before.

There wasn't much. The group was a standard bunch of lowlife guns-for-hire all except their leader, the one with the scar. Apparently he was an ex-Slaver who'd been driven out of business by the ever increasing presence of Alliance military in the Skyllian Verge. Not only that, he was known for loudly voicing his distrust and dislike for other races…humanity in particular. C-SEC was now running with the theory that the attack had been an attempt to scare Maria off her work to hinder human interests on the Citadel.

But there was something off about the attack that ate at Jaksus' gut. He couldn't quite place it, yet the feeling that something was wrong with what had happened simply would not leave him. He pondered over it as he cleaned up through the apartment, through his shower, and even through his lunch as he stood guard over his sleeping ward and waited for their Krogan acquaintance to drop by.

He waited four hours before A'Garr finally showed up and Jaksus. The Krogan seemed in a good mood, despite the harrowing events of the night before. But his arrival sparked an ember of worry in Jaksus' chest. Maria had yet to wake up, which meant she'd been asleep for close to eighteen hours.

Jaksus let A'Garr inside, explained the situation and frowned at Maria's silent door. The Krogan shot him an almost knowing grin. "Leave the small-pint alone. I doubt being threatened by Batarian scum is good for her nerves. I'd be more worried if she woke up and started looking for a gun to go chase down the rest of them with."

Jaksus' head perked up at A'Garr's comment and his brow furrowed, "Rest of them? What 'rest of them'?" he asked.

The Krogan appeared surprised. "I thought you'd read the C-SEC report."

Jaksus frowned and flicked his mandibles in impatience, "I did. There was nothing about more mercs than the ones I took out. What did you find out?"

A'Garr sat with a huff onto the couch and crossed his arms across his chest, "That Quarian mechanic of yours…Nava right? The one who said he'd introduce you two to the Captain of his ship."

Jaksus nodded and took a seat across from A'Garr, folding his hands on his knees before him. "Yeah. What about him?"

"I contacted a friend of mine who trades in information and she told me your Batarian boys caught him on his way back to the docks. Apparently they'd covered several routes they thought you and Maria might take and they caught the poor bastard off guard. Put up some kind of a fight before they got him too." A'Garr explained, nodding in an almost reverent way.

"Got him? The Quarian's dead?" Jaksus asked, horror and remorse flashing through him. It had been his insistence on sending the mechanic back that had forced Nava to go back on his own. Now it seemed as if Jaksus' dislike of the Quarian had gotten him killed. The guilt felt like a lead weight in his chest.

"Not sure actually. Footage cuts out before it's clear if he made it or not. But he hasn't shown up on his ship or to the docks since last night. And C-SEC found a lot of Quarian blood in the alley he was cornered in when they went over it themselves a few hours ago." The Krogan shook his head, his expression grim and Jaksus felt the weight in his chest grow heavier.

He hung his head, sighed, and ran a hand over his fringe, trying to decide the best way to handle this situation, especially since Maria had been attached to the Quarian Mechanic. "How likely do you think it might be that he's still alive?"

A'garr frowned, "You want an honest answer?"

Jaksus simply nodded.

The Krogan let out a deep, uncomfortable rumble and steepled his digits before him as he observed the Turian sitting across from him. "Not very damn likely. Those Batarians were pretty well-armed and well trained for a bunch of rat-hole mercs. Something about this smells but I can't put my damn finger on it."

Jaksus' mandibles flickered in contemplation, "I agree…but I'm not sure were to start looking."

"I do…" a soft voice uttered behind him.

A'Garr jumped to attention, his face guilty, and Jaksus swung around in surprise to see Maria standing just outside her door behind Jaksus' seat on the couch. He was cursing himself for never hearing her come in. Her face was pale but her eyes were determined…in a most bizarre way the girl looked like a vengeful spirit of her former self.

"We start with the hospitals." she said in a soft, determined voice.

Jaksus felt his guilt and fear for her safety rise to the surface once more. "Maria-" he began, but she only held up a hand and shook her head. As she did he could see the tiny way her hands shook.

"No….I want to. Nava was…he would have been a good friend."

…

"Damnit! That's the third one!" In his fury Jaksus tossed a glass across the room with a wave of his hand and an extension of biotic power. Maria jumped in surprise and for an instant was distracted from her single-minded feelings of distress as she stared in awe at the display of biotic potential. She'd had Jaksus take her to one of the special biotic 'gyms' that were designed to test and train those with biotic power…but she'd never witnessed her bodyguard use his own biotic abilities. Maria was quite impressed.

She shook her head however as A'Garr intervened told Jaksus to calm down and take a break as he tried the rest of the numbers on the list. And once more Maria sank into despair. They'd checked over half of the med-clinics and hospitals at the docks and surrounding the restaurant where she'd had such a pleasant dinner just the night before. Yet there was no sign of Nava. What was worse was due to the news about the attack the Flotilla was leaving sooner than they originally planned.

Many of the Quarian ships had already moved on. And the Haedra was scheduled to leave early the next day.

Maria had contacted the Captain of the Haedra, begging him to stay just a bit longer in case Nava was still alive…however the Captain was not only convinced…but also had the safety and security of his crew and it's civilians to think about.

So somehow the trio's tiny little search-party had become the desperate act of the guilty and the hopeful.

And although it had been her suggestion Maria had to admit they were getting absolutely nowhere. She swore to herself, fisted her hands in her hair and forced herself to think. What did she have? What did she know that could help?

First, the Batarians were after her, she'd stopped worrying about what that implied for her own safety. But that meant that if they'd come across Nava on his own they'd probably want to take him alive…use him to lure her out somehow.

Second, Nava's attack and video. A'Garr had gotten the video through an information broker. Information Broker's bought and sold information as if it were an actual physical commodity. The better the information broker, the better the information. The security vid would have been hard to access. Which meant A'Garr's friend was very…very good.

Third, Nava was a Quarian. Maria had learned last night how resourceful they were. How some had redundant measures in their suit meant to keep them alive or had false life signs masks built into their suit's systems so as to fool enemies into believing they were dead. Nava had admitted to keeping a stash of security measures hidden away in his own suit. He'd joked about it. Said he'd prefer to lie on his back than to die standing up.

Maria calculated, and bit her lip. She knew Nava was alive. Which meant they just had to fight him.

Maria released her grip on her hair, stood abruptly and turned to the Krogan sitting in Jaksus' chair, going over their list of hospitals. A'Garr perked up as she came near, dropped his omni-tool to give her full attention and seemed honestly impressed by the look of stern determination set into her features. "Your contact…the one who got you the information and the security vid? Can you set up another meeting with them?"

The Krogan grinned and leaned over his knee in a display of casual arrogance, "Thought you'd never ask short-stuff. Better gird your loins though…this particular friend has a rather nasty way with words."

…

"You want me to find one fucking Quarian while the whole damn Flotilla is making a bleeding mess out of the docks? For nothing? Fuck that shit. I like you A'Garr but I got a damn business to run here." the foul-mouthed reply was spoken so casually Jaksus almost thought he'd been hearing things at first.

The…creature…that was A'Garr's contact was called Scarab and that was about all Jaksus could tell about…her? She seemed female enough, her torso shaped in the alluring curves that a asari, batarian, or human female might have. And as far as Jaksus could tell she had five fingers and arms like those same races as well. But that was where the similarities mostly ended. She was dressed in armor, according to A'Garr no one but her inner circle had seen her outside of it. And the armor was of Salarian make. STG quality to be accurate made for stealth and to take hits in the worst way.

Her helmet was of a Quarian design however. The red visor blurring her features until all you could tell of her face were vague shadows. What was worse, and most worrying under the current circumstances, was that the female spoke with evident Batarian body language. Either way Jaksus found it hard to trust the …chimera of a creature sitting across from them. And Scarab, it seemed, was just as reluctant to close this deal as he was.

She waved a black and red gloved hand in refusal, the beetle insignia for which she took her name, flashing with every movement from her palm. "I don't do charity. You know that you old Krogan gun-jockey. "

A'Garr simply seemed amused by the woman's response, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't be like that Scarab. Next to the Shadow Broker your my favorite shadowy, skulking eavesdropper. Besides, you owe me for that job on Illium. Or should I just tell Nasana why she had to postpone her building plans for the next ten or so years?"

The information broker made an unhappy sound at A'Garr's insinuation and the Batarian and Turian bodyguards to her right and left both subtly reached for their concealed guns. Jaksus was about to reach for his own when Scarab reached her hand up in a silent symbol and had her flanking guards relax. She tilted her head and danced her fingers across the smooth, black, bar table that sat between the two groups. "You implement me in that you'd be signing your own bleeding death warrant…don't treat me like a some green-nosed brat A'Garr. Still…you make a good point. You've done some good work for me in the past and it's been a damn long time since I've had anything I could consider a fucking challenge."

There was a tense silent moment as Scarab's fingers danced across the table, dancing out some sort of tune. Finally she nodded in ascent, "All right. I'll do it. But you owe ME after this one A'Garr. Don't think we're even by any long stretch."

The Krogan mercenary chuckled and stuck out his hand for the information broker to shake in a show of cementing the deal. "Wouldn't dream of it Scarab."

The handshake lasted less than a second and the instant it was over the trio across from them were pulling away and heading for the door as if their feet were on fire. Jaksus rose his brows in surprise and turned to A'Garr in grim curiosity, "So we just sit back and wait? I don't like the idea of trusting…her…"

Maria let out a long breath and bit the tip of her thumb in a show of anxiety, "We don't have any other choice. In the meantime… we should get back to the list."

…

They finished the rest of the list in two hours and moved on to calling the hospitals and med clinics on the rest of the Citadel…which Jaksus reminded them all was an insurmountable task. But Maria refused to give up and truly Jaksus didn't seem to want to either. It was A'Garr who finally told them to stop sometime around three in the morning. Both Turian and human were reluctant, but eventually gave in.

Maria did not sleep well. She tossed and turned all night, her mind plagued with images of crazed eyes watching her from all corners and the sound of gunfire. She woke gasping, shivering, and utterly frantic, trying to wrap her mind around the concept that she'd heard nothing, felt nothing, seen nothing, that everything had truly been just a collection of dreams. But it was a hard thing to do, every time she turned her head she would see four eyes glaring at her at the corner of her vision.

The image of the scarred Batarian was burned into her mind…haunting her. And she hated it. She wanted…needed to be strong. Like her sister. Like her brother. Like her father. Like Gene…

At the thought of her niece Maria always calmed, the familiar sense of lonely acceptance and longing burning through her. She shook her head, cleared her mind, and forced herself from her bed. She clambered back into the shared living room, and started on the list again, hoping things had changed, needing to focus on something other than the horror and despair in her life.

She'd only been at it for an hour when Jaksus emerged from his own room, began a pot of coffee, and then sat down to join her in her endless pursuit. They'd called nearly a fifty hospitals by the time A'Garr finally showed up again, this time accompanied by a tiny, scruffy, and rather irritated looking human teenager.

"Found this kid prowling around outside your building. I was going to throw her to the curb when she said she had information from Scarab." A'Garr told them, smirking as he squeezed the girl's shoulder.

The golden-eyed blue-haired girl growled in irritation, pulled her arm free from the Krogan's grasp and shot him the most disrespectful glare she could muster. "Don't fucking man-handle me man. I'm just doing what I was fucking told alright!" she spat, straightening the rough-looking black jacket she wore. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out a data-pad which she handed to Jaksus before beating a quick retreat out the door, giving them all a rather rude hand gesture on her way out the door.

Maria stared after the girl, cinching her brows in thought, "Did she seem…familiar…to you guys?"

Jaksus simply huffed and rolled his eyes, "It was probably her foul mouth. Somehow I'm sure all her hired help probably end being hired on how creative they can be with their use of foul language."

The Turian brushed the rest of the conversation off and focused no the datapad in his hands, his expression falling it seemed with each word he read. "Well…our…'friend' managed to track Nava from the alleyway to some med-clinic not far off from the Prisidium. But it seems the Doctor's assistant Michelle caught him sneaking out late last night and Scarab doesn't mention whether or not she managed to pick up the trail from there."

"Is that who that second group of Batarians belonged to?" a familiar voice said from the door.

Maria rounded and felt all the air leave her gut. Tears of relief sprang from her eyes and she ran to hug the green-clad Quarian standing her door, holding his arm in an awkward sling. Nava hissed in pain and Maria quickly released him but couldn't help smiling in relief. "You're alive! Everyone was sure you were…Oh my God! Nava! What are you doing here? You need to go to the Haedra, it's going to leave in less than an hour!"

The Quarian gave a somewhat resolute gesture and a half-hearted chuckle, "I couldn't leave without getting this to you first." he told them, pulling a small disk from his belt and holding it out for her to take. "I snatched it from one of the Batarians who attacked me. I did not get a good look at it before I spotted that second group and fled the med-clinic however. But it looks like it is instructions from whoever sent those men to kill you."

Jaksus took the disk and frowned over it glancing up at the Quarian as if in disbelief. But Maria knew they had no time to discuss how Nava had gotten the disk or even how he'd managed to escape. They had to get him to the docks. Maria pushed the Quarian toward the door and pulled Jaksus along with her as she went. "Forget about that right now! We have to get you to the Haedra before it leaves!"

…

Jaksus stared up at the empty dock where the Haedra had been with a growing pit of anger and dissent in growing in his gut. Quarians…they talked so much about family and the unity of their damned Flotilla…

The Turian sighed in frustration and turned to the miserable Quarian in a sling standing to this right, and the deflated human next to him.

The Haedra had left in the middle of the night. Apparently they'd been given confirmation that their missing crew member had been found dead and left immediately after. Which left Nava'Sh'Var vas Haedra…stranded on the Citadel. Maria turned to the Quarian and hesitantly placed a comforting hand on his uninjured arm. "Is there no way to catch them? To get you back to your ship?" she asked.

Nava shook his head and hung his head in utter defeat. "No. I do not have the credits to book passage on a shuttle… and even if I did…I have no idea where the Haedra was headed. I was not in the Captain's plans to leave this soon… we had planned to be docked here for at least a month." The green-clanned Quarian shook his head and sighed. "This is like my pilgrimage all over again. I suppose I should start looking for a shelter to spend the night in."

Jaksus felt a sudden urge of dread as he spotted Maria's look of sympathy and selfless acceptance slowly slide into place. "Maria-" Jaksus began, his tone a warning.

But the human cut him off, her grip on Nava's arm growing more firm to force the Quarian to look at her and regard her seriously. "Stay with us."

Jaksus slapped his palm to his face and bemoaned not only his terrible luck, but the utter comedy his life had become. Without a doubt he knew he'd half to either share his bed with the damn Quarian…or else he'd have to start sleeping on the couch.

And all because he'd told the damn mechanic to go home.

…..

Neross: Well my dear and faithful readers there you are. I hope you've all enjoyed this latest chapter and I hope you're eagerly excited for the next one. What's more I hope you all enjoyed the addition of Scarab to our little menagerie of character's. Sadly she won't be showing up much more after this. HOWEVER, if you'd like to see more of her you can talk to her and even ask her questions at .com. You can even ask her questions about Maria and Jaksus' story for news or clarification if you feel like it. So check her out!

And until next time, keep on rocking out!


	9. Wide Awake

Neross: Hey everybody, sorry for the wait. Shall we get right to it then?

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…

"I guess this won't be so bad…it's kind of like being on my pilgrimage again." Nava said, absently toying with his injured arm.

Jaksus fought the urge to groan aloud and a gave a briefly irritated flicker of his mandibles as he watched Maria slap away Nava's good hand from the Quarian's sling. The human was frowning in a worried way and standing beside the injured suit-rat in the way a mother bird might however around a newly hatched chick. She played with her fingers, chewing her cuticles as she nervously studied Nava and seemed to practically hop from foot to foot.

Jaksus pulled her hand away from her mouth before she could cause herself to bleed and managed to silence Maria's upcoming protest with a single look. The human quieted, but did not still and soon turned back to the green-clad Quarian riding along in the elevator beside them. "You're going to go back to the Clinic aren't you? You need to get proper treatment. Jaksus alerted C-SEC so they'll make sure to look after you. Isn't that right?"

The Turian nodded but failed to add that C-SEC would also be waiting at the clinic to take the Quarian's statement. Jaksus, in the meantime, had sent on the information Nava had given him earlier…although it turned out to be nothing more than the e-mail logs of one of his attackers. All the disk had managed to reveal was that the Batarian's had in fact been hired by someone. C-SEC were convinced it was probably some other Batarian with a grudge against humanity and were following up based on that line of logic.

But Jaksus remained unconvinced. Killing Maria would earn the Batarian's nothing. All it would accomplish would be to set humanity on edge and to step up human sympathies on the Citadel. It just didn't seem to add up. Still the Turian had to let it go. He had more pressing concerns on his hands. Such as how to move an injured Quarian into the two-bedroom apartment he was sharing with his human ward.

He hated the idea of simply giving Nava his room, however he was pretty convinced Maria would object to making the abandoned engineer sleep out on the couch. He outrightly loathed the idea of letting Nava and Maria share a room and yet was hesitant to bring up the only option he actually was comfortable with. Mainly because he was surprised he was comfortable with it at all. What's more it raised all sorts of new issues.

As they saw the Quarian off to the clinic Jaksus felt his stomach sink as he realized he was left with no option….he'd have to move Maria into his room and share it with her.

It'd be fine he told himself….wouldn't it?

…..

Maria sat on the couch in the apartment she currently shared with Jaksus and would soon share with Nava as well….and felt her face grow as red as her hair. For nearly the first time in her life her thoughts ran along a mostly singular track. Yet as normal they were anything but quiet.

Sleep in the same room with Jaksus? Possibly the same bed? Share a bathroom and living space? It was both an exhilarating option and an extremely frightening one. On the one hand she'd be able to study a Turian's sleeping habits first hand. Jaksus might even let down his guard enough for her to see how he naturally acted while going through his normal morning and evening routines.

On the other hand…the idea of his voice in her ear…the idea of being nearly naked around him… the utter idea of being so close to him at her most intimate hours…made her chest hurt and her legs feel like limp noodles. Having the barrier of several doors and a living space between them was one thing. This was something wholly different.

Yet Jaksus seemed intent on it. He sat across from her, hands folded across his knees, regarding her in his grimly serious 'I'm your bodyguard and this is my say-so' way that he did when he set his mind on something. She wanted to say she thought the idea had merit but that she'd prefer if they came to some other arrangement but her mouth didn't seem able to communicate properly with her brain and all that came out was an odd squeak. Jaksus rose a brow in nearly amused confusion and Maria slapped a hand to her mouth before looking around as if for an escape.

"But…I… you…what about? Oh…oh dear…it's just…in the same bed?" Maria stammered, her last few words rising to an awkward high-pitched utterance.

Maria couldn't quite tell, she was still getting used to Turian facial expressions after all, but it seemed like Jaksus was smiling at the tone in her voice. "Maria if you're that uncomfortable with the idea then I can sleep on the floor or out on the couch."

Maria frowned, glaring at her bodyguard a bit before she furiously shook her head and stood abruptly. "No. It's…it's fine. You can't just…the floor is …I'd feel bad kicking you out of your bed. I…it's okay. I can…human beings are nothing if not adaptable." Maria told herself more than she told him, trying to convince herself that she could get used to sleeping with a giant wall of heavy male flesh beside her.

She took a moment to take a deep breath and remembered the nights she spent as a child snuggled up to her brother and sister before they'd all grown old enough to have their own beds. It wouldn't be so bad. Right?

….

The red on Maria's face remained throughout the entire time it took to move her things from her room into Jaksus'. The Turian found the embarrassment endearing…even a bit cute. In the way women tended to see small animals as cute.

Jaksus was surprised to find that there was plenty of room for her things in his suite. The most the Turian had to do was shuffle a few of his things into more organized piles within his drawers and cabinets. The only problem they found was where to stash Maria's generous book collection. Eventually they agreed to keep the books beside Jaksus' desk in the bedroom half of the suite.

They were moving the last couple of boxes when Nava at last returned from the med clinic. He appeared to be much better and even in quite a fine mood when he walked in, despite the obvious sling on his arm. Jaksus had a feeling that it wasn't just good news from the Doctor that had the Quarian sauntering in as if he'd just won a fortune at Quazar. Jaksus had to hide the almost smug smirk that crossed his face as he carted one of the last boxes he'd filled from Maria's bathroom and into his own. He could almost hear the nearly curious disappointment in the Engineer's voice as he caught Maria carrying her towels and toothbrush (the last of her personal items within her detached bathroom) out across the living room toward Jaksus' suite.

"Did something happen while I was gone?", Nava asked, the lift in his shoulder's practically deflating before Jaksus' eyes.

Maria, in all her naive glory, didn't seem to notice the mood of either male and simply smiled in her carefree way, "Yes! I mean err no…not exactly. We, I mean I just, "Maria stammered, clearly caught off guard by both Nava and the nervous energy she'd been carrying around since her talk with her Turian bodyguard. She nearly dropped one of her towels and she took a minute to catch it, compose herself, and clear her throat nervously. "I'm just moving my things in the other room," she began, smiling a bit more naturally this time as she rounded Nava and the couch and headed toward Jaksus and his room. Well…THEIR room now. "That way you can have a bed and bathroom to yourself. We notified the staff that you'll be staying with us so there's a few sanitation bots decontaminating your room right now. But they should be done in a minute. Then they'll see to the bathroom. Jaksus says they're not very thorough though so you may want to do your own sweep of the rooms. We'd be more than happy to-"

"So you're staying in a room with the Turian now?" Nava asked, interrupting Maria and annoying Jaksus with his tone and his now aggressive body language. Jaksus actually bothered to remove himself from the doorway to his room and took a step forward, his brow furrowing.

Maria's smile faltered but remained as best it could as she nodded. "Yes. We agreed it was the best option for while you're staying here." the human explained the pink slowly returning to her cheeks as she stopped in her tracks and attempted not to spill the items in her hands.

The Quarian shot a glance toward Jaksus and the Turian could almost swear he saw the Engineer glare behind his green-tinted visor. "Did you? That is…very generous of you."

Maria seemed to miss the context, as well as the subtle irritation in the Quarian's voice because she smiled and began to carry on toward Jaksus' room. Her bodyguard on the other hand, shot a glare in the Quarian's direction and was on the verge of telling Maria that Nava would just have to go. As usual Maria interjected and left Jaksus needing to curb himself once more. "It's nothing! Honest! I mean you nearly got killed because of me so it's only fair that I be the one to give up a room. And this way-!"

But no one ever got to find out what Maria was going to add because in her haste the girl tripped over a slipping towel and went flying face-first toward the sleek metal floor of the living room. Thankfully Jaksus was right there and had quick reflexes and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Unfortunately Nava had also tried to intervene and wound up with a face-full of towels and tooth-brushes and other feminine hygiene products that Maria had apparently been hiding under her assorted collection of towels. All of which Maria had apparently thrown up into the air as she'd descended. All save for the towel Maria had tripped up which had somehow wound up amongst the tangle of limbs that was now Maria and Jaksus.

All three of them wound up sprawled on the floor in a jumble of objects and bodies. And somehow Jaksus found himself with a handful of Maria's backside, which was surprisingly firm considering how soft she looked. In fact, Maria's body was quite nicely pressed up against him and Jaksus was almost in awe of the fact that Maria was indeed quite firm all over. All save for one soft spot which was smutted against his upper shoulder.

Somewhere in the back of his mind something laughed and said 'Right. Humans have mammary glands on their chest like Asari.' Which, really, had nothing to do with the situation at hand. Yet like a nervous tick in his mind it was there whether he liked it or not. An awkward moment of stilled silence fell as everyone tried to gauge what, exactly, had happened and just how they'd wound up in whatever position they'd found themselves in. It took a moment but after a few nervous heartbeats Maria mad a strangled sound and scrambled off of her bodyguard with a face as red as a giant red star. Like a chittering pyjak Maria sputtered out a stream of syllables that made utterly no sense and frantically began to pick up her things.

Jaksus tried, but utterly failed at withholding his laughter and ended up collapsing in a burst of chortles on the floor. Nava sat up, pulled a towel off of his head, and began to chuckle as well which had Maria sitting back and looking almost lost before she buried her face in a towel. At first Jaksus thought she was crying and quit laughing immediately to reach for the tiny human girl, when he heard her muffled giggles …which only made him resume laughing even harder. Maria finally dropped the towel after awhile and threw back her head in laughter before snapping her towel at Jaksus and giving him a frown that twitched up at the edges constantly as she fought off future giggle-fits.

"Stop..pffft… stop laughing and help me! Poor Nava got knocked on his ass and he's covered in my tampons." Maria sputtered, trying to pry things off of Nava without interfering with his arm and fighting the giggles every inch of the way.

Nava did his best to help, but seemed to be fighting with his laughter so much he was practically useless. Somehow through endless break-downs of chuckling and tiny pot-shots at each other either for what they'd tried to do, what they had done but fucked up, or what they had done, gotten right, and then taken advantage of. Either way all tension from before was forgotten and everyone wound up helping Maria putting away the last of her things in Jaksus' bathroom. When they'd finished Maria convinced them both to go out for dinner, despite Jaksus' misgivings and Nava's complaints.

Thankfully for the boys Maria insisted on a nearby cafe' that lied only a block away from their apartment. Jaksus was rather proud of the way the human was able to understand the concerns both of her dextro roommates had with traveling too far so soon after nearly being killed. Their dinner was small and was actually rather comfortable, although Maria couldn't help but analyze the way Nava ate and drank, the differences in taste between Jaksus and the Quarian, and even the differences in their table manners. The only consolation Jaksus had was that someone else was suffering Maria's normal obsessive and invasive behavior for once and thus could share his pain.

At the same time, although he wasn't sure why, he was slightly irritated that Maria was sharing the attention she normally spared for just him. He shoved the feeling aside, as it made him uncomfortable, and somehow managed to not strangle Nava. Even if he did hit on a rather clueless Maria more often than he could really stand. He could only thank the Spirits that Nava was subtle and Maria was apparently dense.

…

Maria had no idea why she'd agreed to this situation. Everything was exceptionally nerve-wracking. Dinner had been fine. Hell it had even been fun after that little laugh-fest they'd had in the apartment. But once they'd finished their meal everything had gone down hill. Both of the men had gone quiet. Jaksus pensively so. After that point Nava retired to his room, apparently taking Jaksus' advice to heart hoping to get some sleep after being awake for so long. Which left Maria and Jaksus alone in their living room. Normally Maria would have felt comfortable this way. After all she'd been on the citadel for two months, living alone with Jaksus, and had had no problem. Or at least…no problem like this.

She felt as if she couldn't sit still, what's worse was she couldn't keep her mind on her work. For the first time in her life Maria found her mind constantly assaulted by what the night could hold and what had already happened. Finding herself in a tumble upon Jaksus, strewn across him like some sort of lewd piece fabric in an old painting, was absolutely …stimulating. And she was…unsure what to do about such a feeling. She'd been so embarrassed, not by what she'd done, but by her body's reaction that all she'd wanted to do was run away.

She'd been attracted to others before. When she was eighteen she'd finally given in to her college roommate's insistence and allowed her to fix herself up on a date. The memory brought a smile to her face as she remembered the shock on her room-mate's face when she'd told her that she'd not only slept with the boy she'd been set up with. But that she'd been more than prepared to do so. She'd tried to explain that yes, she loved learning, and yes…she might not always get all the social niceties…and yes sometimes she could be a little naive or dense. But she at the very least knew about intercourse, attraction, and her own body.

Her father had always told her that sex was nothing to be ashamed of, that it was natural and apart of everyone's everyday life, and that it didn't matter who you were attracted to or what you did in the bedroom so long as you were safe and happy and could respect yourself at the end of the day. And Maria had happily lived by those rules…though she had waited until she was eighteen simply to make sure that everything was legal. After all, she'd been on a college campus since the age of thirteen and she'd been sure then, just as she was still sure now, that it would have been illegal to just 'have at' the second she got to campus.

And since then she'd been attracted to well…quite a few people… over the years. But this sort of intense reaction was new for her. It was almost…frightening how much she'd reacted to being so close to Jaksus. Having his arms around her in that protective way she was so familiar with. And…to have him (probably not on purpose) squeeze her buttocks. Well…that was rather… erm … titillating.

Simply sitting there thinking about it was turning her face red and making her heart pound almost painfully in her chest. She'd tried to rationalize it. After all he was a whole other species. But it didn't quite seem to matter. It seemed she was attracted to Jaksus regardless. She was sure his voice and his presence had a large part to do with it. The deep tones and strange way his voice resonated nearly made her legs turn to water. And she was sure no one could say that Jaksus did not radiate pure, unadulterated, 'maleness'. She could always feel him when he walked into a room because he always seemed to fill it.

And, if she were honest, she was honestly enamored by the sharp lines and deep colors of his face. His strength and the breadth of his chest was impressive and his legs made her feel like a pixie siting next to a giant… but it was amazing and rather flattering that that strength was dedicated to protecting her.

None of this, of course, did anything to make her feel any less nervous around Jaksus however. In fact, it only made things worse. After all, he'd admitted that he didn't like humans, and she'd hate to make him feel uncomfortable. Especially after he'd given up his room to her just so that her friend could stay with them. Eventually she gave up and retreated to their now shared room, muttering some sort of excuse about being tired that she was sure neither of them actually believed.

She grabbed the overly large Alliance trainee shirt she normally wore as pajamas and locked herself in the bathroom, taking the time to run through her nightly ritual as best she could. Somehow she'd managed to miraculously get her things together, change, and collect her own clothing before Jaksus even decided to turn off the TV. Grateful for her surprising luck, Maria climbed into the giant bed before she could put too much thought into the situation and psyche herself out.

It was almost like that night when she was six and she was finally forced to sleep in a bed on her own as all of her siblings had gone off into the world to make names for themselves. She had been so nervous, so frightened, and so excited by the change she hadn't been able to sleep…or even get into the bed at all. Instead she spent that first night simply standing there…staring at the bed as if it would eat her.

When her Turian bodyguard finally did decide to hit the hay Maria feigned unconsciousness, feeling too uncomfortable to attempt any sort of small talk. She squeezed her eyes shut and simply lay there listening, each sound muffled by the beating of her heart in her ears. Faintly she could hear Jaksus go into the bathroom. She listened, lying still and not daring to open her eyes as the water ran, then shut off, the toilet flushed, the water ran again. And then the bathroom door opened and Maria could hear Jaksus pad across the floor on bare-feet and go to his closet. And then, almost as if she were possessed, Maria decided she had to take a peek. 'After all,' she told herself, 'when is the next time you're going to be able to see a real live naked Turian?'

…

Maria was playing at sleep when Jaksus finally decided it was about time he turned in. Problem was, she wasn't doing it well. Her breathing was piratic and her ears were a stunning bright red. Jaksus didn't bother to hide his smile, seeing as how Maria's eyes were nearly glued shut.

He shook his head and proceeded with his regular routine as if Maria wasn't even there. Which was rather hard to do considering the fact that her things were everywhere. Her scent, that sweet, feminine, but rather sharp smell seemed to seep out from her and her things. It invaded everything he owned to the point where it was almost all Jaksus could smell.

He didn't mind. The scent was almost pleasing after all. But the very fact that he actually "liked" the smell of her unsettled him. He chased the idea from his mind, knowing that it would do nothing to help his current situation. He finished his regular routine in the bathroom and kicked off his shoes before he went to change into his sleeping wear. He tucked his shoes away in the corner of the closet and pulled out his usual sleeping pants and tried to change as casually as he normally did…but couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

He shoved the idea away and simply climbed into the bed with Maria topless. He almost had to laugh at the fact that the human was still squeezing her eyes shut and that the red at her ears had spread across the rest of her face. He gave a light chuckle, shook his head, and rolled over onto his side away from her. He almost wanted to say something but ended up deciding against it and just resigned himself to sleep. He gave only the slightest amount of attention to the voice in his head that told him this was a bad idea.

….

Neross: Where there you go guys. I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter (as it gave me no end of trouble) and I hope everyone is excited for what comes next. I'm very sorry for not having the chapter up sooner but I've been having a few health concerns lately (amongst other real life issues) that have been a bit taxing on my creativity and emotions. Either way thank you to those who left me a review as they do wonders to help inspire and motivate me.

And now for the part everyone's familiar with. Remember to leave a review and if you'd like to know about what I've got coming up then you can check me out at .com or you can hear it all from the mouth of Scarab at .com. For more news and updates go ahead and check my profile or feel free to shoot me a message. And most importantly…

Until next time, keep on rocking out!


	10. Animal

Neross: Alright my dear readers let's just cut to the chase and get to the good stuff yeah? Because we all know there's going to be some good stuff in this chapter.

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

Beta: Spyke1985

…..

When Jaksus woke up he found himself in the most awkward position of his life. Somehow, while he'd slept, he'd wound up tangled with Maria. His arm was her pillow, her legs were curled around his own, his other arm was swung around her waist, and the whole of her body was pressed neatly up against his. His first thought was that she fit quite well snuggled up against him. Then he thought again and his second thought was that he had a tiny human practically attached to him… And that it felt really rather nice. His third thought however, was the one he considered to be the most proper one.

He told himself, very strictly, that this was not just any human… This was Maria, the woman who he was supposed to protect. What's worse was her red face and small stature had him panicking. This is wrong, he thought, this is horribly and utterly wrong. His boss would kill him… If Maria's father and the Alliance didn't get to him first. He wanted to bolt upright and run from the room… But restrained the urge when he realized that would simply wake Maria up and make matters worse.

So instead of jumping from the bed as if it were suddenly on fire, Jaksus began to pull himself free extremely carefully. He was endlessly grateful when the most the woman stirred was to snuggle into her actual pillow. But other than that little shift the petite human stayed blissfully asleep and the turian was able to quietly escape the bed and the bedroom. He went to the refuge of the kitchen and went to work to make a pot of what Maria had dubbed 'Dextro-Coffee'. Jaksus had laughed at the idea before, because it really was just a bitter, warm, and strong drink made from the pulp of a fruit found on Palaven. Still, the human had needed an equivalent, so 'Coffee' it was.

The C-SEC officer was not laughing now though, he was grumbling irritably as he stood by the machine and waited for it to finish making his morning beverage. He was going to need the caffeine today. He really, really was. He'd poured himself a mugful and was standing at the kitchen counter, wondering when the hell his life had taken such a drastic turn for the strange, when Nava pulled himself from what had been Maria's room. The turian could hear the quarian yawn and watched as he stretched before the quarian mirrored his trek to the pot of steaming, bitter, caffeinated mercy. He stood for a moment however, glaring at the drink before letting out a sigh, and opening a pocket on his belt. He pulled out a small tablet, poured himself a mug and dropped the tablet in before shuffling through the drawers. Finally he seemed to find what he was looking for, and stuck a straw into his drink with a grievous grumble before sinking against the counter same as Jaksus.

"Trouble sleeping?" The turian asked, trying to be somewhat friendly. The quarian made an irritated sound before sticking the straw into a port in his helmet Jaksus hadn't seen before. There was a quiet moment as the drink drifted up and then the quarian removed the straw and leveled a single, angry, finger at Jaksus. "I could say the same of you my friend. Perhaps it is something in the air." The green clad engineer growled.

Jaksus simply rose a brow-plate at the quarian's grumpy tone. Nava noticed his silent come-back and visibly flustered for a moment as he seemed to try to find an emotion to convey. Apparently he chose apologetic because the quarian wrung his hands together, stuck the straw into the tiny port again and was quiet for a moment as he 'sipped' more of the drink. When he was done, Nava hung his head and said, "I apologize. It is hard to sleep when everything is so still, and quiet… And open. I miss the snug, homey feeling of the Haedra."

The turian smirked over the edge of his cup and shook his head, "Snug huh? Personally I'd probably find it crowded." He gave a small chuckle and took a sip from his drink, as Nava looked up and made a flippant gesture with his hand.

The quarian's voice was actually amused this time as he gave a laughing response to Jaksus' estimation of his home ship. "Well," he commented, "You would."

Jaksus chuckled and gave the quarian a light tap on his good arm. Then both men looked up as the door to Jaksus' room opened and Maria stumbled out, rubbing at her eyes and looking for all the world as if she'd just been abruptly awoken from a dream. She stared blankly around the room before her gaze settled on the two alien men in the kitchen and her expression narrowed before she gave a large yawn, which she unsuccessfully tried to cover with her hand. "Good morning…" She mumbled, still mostly just standing still, blinking tiredly around as if still not really awake.

Her lips twitched… As if in irritation and then her eyes snapped into focus onto Jaksus. "Oh…Jaksus. I received a message from the Sol system. My um… Grandmother… Says she got permission and passage to the Citadel to visit. She'll be here in a week. Is that alright?"

Jaksus frowned over his drink and his mandibles flickered in irritation, "Great… She doesn't intend to stay at the apartment, does she?" He asked, finding the place too crowded for his liking as it was.

"No… She told me she already booked a room at an asari hotel. Um Illusion I think it's called?" Maria worked out as she headed for the fridge in order to pull out a pre-packaged serving of juice that she'd brought with her from Earth. She snapped the top off the package and set it out on the counter as cold mist drifted from it and she was free to grab a glass from a nearby cabinet.

"Illusion? Are you sure? That place is pretty expensive even for asari, and they charge more if you're another species." Jaksus commented, wondering just how the hell Maria's Grandmother had managed to swing that kind of reservation. Spending even one night there would have drained one month's worth of his wages, so he was more than a little impressed… And suspicious… That some little old woman from Earth had managed to snag a room as if it were nothing.

Maria brought up her Omni-tool and the message again and then nodded in confirmation. "Yep…Illusion hotel…oh! No…. Oh no… No no no no no no. I have to go shopping." Maria started, her face blooming red as she shut her omni-tool and her eyes shot open in surprise. Jaksus frowned and Nava actually had to jump out of the way as Maria rushed from the kitchen back toward Jaksus' room.

The turian let out a low growl and tried to intercept her… But it was too late, the girl had disappeared into his bathroom and was running the shower. "I hate it when she does that…" He muttered angrily, grabbing some clothes and stealing away toward Nava's bathroom.

"This happens often?" The quarian asked, setting his mug aside and watching as Jaksus strode furiously into his new bathroom.

"More often than I'd like." Jaksus admitted.

…..

Maria rushed through her shower, berating her tired mind most of the time. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid… Always check the P.S. when it's a Shepard." She told herself, remembering what her older sister had told her about her in-laws with a laugh. Maria had more than once been surprised to find it was true. Still, she couldn't be too hard on herself… She had been mostly still asleep when she'd read the message. She'd just been in the middle of an excellent … Or rather… Embarrassing now that she thought about it, dream. She'd dreamt she and Jaksus had been curled up together on the couch watching some old vid while A'Garr laughed from a seat nearby. It had been nice, and very realistic, she could have sworn she'd felt Jaksus' body pressed up against her own. But really that was rather embarrassing of her to do. He was, after all, her body-guard and she knew it was improper for her to be enjoying such thoughts, well… Such dreams.

Still when she'd awoken Jaksus was nowhere to be found and Maria's omni-tool was blinking eagerly to alert her of some new message. She'd been surprised to find that Linda Shepard had contacted her, and even more surprised to hear she'd be visiting. Maria could only guess that the older woman must have heard about the attack she'd survived. She was strange like that. Somehow she just seemed to know things. Things she probably wouldn't otherwise know.

In any case, Maria had read the first half of the message and pulled herself out of bed, fully aware that Jaksus would want to be informed. And she'd been right of course, the turian's frown told her he was already weighing how much of an issue the visit was going to be. So she'd decided it would just be best to assuage his worries and answer all of his questions as best as she could. Although she'd admitted to herself that it would be difficult to describe her relationship with her sister's mother-in-law.

She'd grown quite close to the woman after her sister had married Linda's son. The artist was younger than her own mother by a few years and thought much differently. She'd accepted Maria's strange, reclusive behaviors in stride. During holidays she'd invite Maria's whole family over to stay at her home, and she would give Maria the use of her studio where she painted while Maria studied away. There was a quiet and calming energy to the woman that put Maria at ease in a way her own mother never could. Linda simply didn't judge her… She accepted and tried her best to fit into Maria's world.

After her sister and brother-in-law had died it had been Linda who had known how best to comfort Maria. And even later when her niece was taken away from her Aunt and given to Maria's brother and sister-in-law for care, Linda had come to Maria for comfort. Yes they had a rather strange bond…. But mostly Maria simply liked to think that they were just friends that had been tied together by tragedy.

Of course, being as close as she was you'd have thought she'd check the stupid post script message. But Maria had forgotten until Jaksus had asked for confirmation on the name of the hotel. And that was when Maria had spotted it… Linda Shepard had booked them all a spa day. Somehow the old woman had even accounted for A'Garr and Nava, although how Maria still simply could not begin to understand.

This, however, had put Maria into a panic, as she had no bathing suit and no flip-flops and utterly no swimming or bathing supplies and had no idea how spas on the Citadel even worked, or what they expected of their patrons. So she panicked and ran for the shower. And now she was dressing as quickly as possible, trying to brush her hair and her teeth at the same time in her hurry.

She was interrupted in the middle of the process by Jaksus who came in, probably to find something of his own, and sighed at the sight of her. He ordered her into the bathroom and told her to sit on the toilet as he grabbed his shoes, hopped into them on his way to the bathroom and then began the process of straightening buttons and clothes she hadn't realized were out of place. He popped her toothbrush into her mouth and told her to brush, as he hauled her upright and worked her brush through her hair.

The turian was surprisingly gentle as he worked and Maria was grateful for his help… Even if he did keep growling at her to keep still as she impatiently bounced from foot to foot. She finished brushing her teeth at about the same time he finished with her hair and she turned to leave only to find her bodyguard had effectively pinned her to the countertop. He turned her around, lifted her up, and sat her on the counter so he could shoot his disapproving look straight into her eyes… Which she found more than a little discomforting… For more than a few reasons.

"Before you continue on with this madness Maria, I want you to tell me what's going on, and why you have to go shopping." Jaksus asked of her, though his voice came out as a demand that had little nerves shooting up from the base of Maria's toes.

The human could feel heat rising in her face as she tried to find something to do with her hands and desperately tried not to look Jaksus in the face, as doing so seemed to send a strange tingling up and down her spine. It wasn't the most uncomfortable sensation… But it was unnerving. "Linda… That is my … Well alright she's actually my sister's mother-in-law but we're quite close… She apparently booked us a day at Illusion's spa and I don't have a bathing suit. If I need one that is. I mean I have no idea how spas on the Citadel operate and-"

Jaksus interrupted her by placing a hand over her mouth and although Maria expected him to sigh instead he simply stared at her as if her head was going to explode. She fought the urge to check if it was with her hands. "So she's not your grandmother?"

Maria shook her head and Jaksus' mandibles flashed in thought before he returned to gazing at her as if his translator had somehow had a glitch. "So… Sister's mother-in-law. So your sister's husband's mother."

Maria nodded and this time Jaksus did sigh, "Okay… And let me guess. She's either rich or famous or both."

Maria's mouth twitched and then she nodded and pulled Jaksus' hand away so she could elaborate, "Her husband was an Alliance officer and she's a pretty renowned artist. But I think most of her money comes from investments she made on Alliance interests. She tried to explain it to me once but I don't understand economics all that well. That's more of my father's area of expertise."

Jaksus quirked a brow but seemed to nod in understanding. "Okay then… Well… I've never been to a spa either so… Shopping it is then."

…..

Jaksus watched with some mild sympathy as Maria glared at the swimsuits hanging off racks before her. None of them really looked as if they would fit her. Normally Jaksus would have felt more comfortable either waiting outside for her, or running off to do his own business. But A'Garr was awol, and Nava had run off to do some job hunting and shopping of his own. Not that Jaksus would have left Maria alone with the injured quarian, but he'd have felt better being in the asari clothing boutique if he'd been in a group… Instead of alone with Maria.

As it was Jaksus could barely stand the whispers and the muffled giggles of both staff and customers alike, as Jaksus followed Maria around the shop as she picked absently through the clothes. He could tell the trip wasn't going any better for the petite human either, as her expression grew darker and darker with each suit that she'd pick up and then quickly put back. When she looked as if she was about to cry from frustration Jaksus let out a low growl of his own frustration, took Maria by the arm and pin-pointed the nearest saleswoman.

The asari was one of the few who seemed to be trying to pay the least amount of attention to them as possible, a tall specimen with a royal blue coloring and bright pink markings around soft brown eyes. She smiled at Jaksus when he tapped her on the shoulder and then frowned when she caught sight of Maria's clearly upset face. She nearly pushed the turian aside as she took Maria by the shoulder's and offered her a consoling tone. "Oh sweetheart! What's wrong? Is the big guy bothering you?"

Jaksus glared at the asari's back, irritated by her insinuation. He was thankful when Maria stopped looking like she was about to cry however. The human woman shook her head eagerly and began to play with her fingers in a nervous way. "Oh no! No he's… Jaksus is… He's just trying to help me. I'm just having a hard time finding a swim-suit that will fit me and won't look so… Um… Revealing?" Maria explained turning a bit red in the face from embarrassment.

The asari stilled for a moment and then stood and smiled in an almost… Conspiring way. Jaksus felt a twinge of dread settle at his back. "Oh I see. Well no problem then, come on sweet heart and I'll find you something absolutely gorgeous."

Maria smiled but then turned bright red in the face when the saleswoman twirled her around and placed her hands at her hips. "You've got some great hips so I'm sure we can find you a suit that'll have your boyfriend going all atwitter. From me to you I have to say that most turians are big fans of supportive hips." The asari laughed in a twittering voice and then took Maria's arm in hers and led her back to the swim-suit section.

Jaksus practically had to run to keep up, and was, at this point, just as embarrassed as Maria as the asari led her around. The sudden change in the flow of the day had him nearly flabbergasted… Maria as well it seemed, as her mouth kept opening and shutting like a fish. The poor human was the same shade as her hair and stuttering out something along the lines of "Really he's not my… We're not… We're just friends … I think. And I couldn't… Oh dear lord… Does that come in blue?" Maria asked, her eyes lighting up as the saleswoman pulled out a white bathing suit that seemed to have caught Maria's eye.

"Trust me sweetie you'll want the white. Now here, take these, " the brown-eyed asari added, shoving three more suits into Maria's grasp and then turning her toward the nearest dressing room, "And you change into the first one while I pull a few more options, alright?"

"Thanks but really this is-"

"And don't forget to come out and show off a little so we can gauge your boy's reaction alright? Now in you go."

"But he's not-!" But Maria was cut off as she was pushed into a dressing room and had the door slide shut behind her. "My name's Corina so just call if you need anything dear!" The asari called through the door turning with a truly wicked grin toward Jaksus, making him stiffen in response.

"Your girlfriend is absolutely adorable. Is she a trader? I couldn't see a small woman like that as an Alliance soldier." Corina asked politely, heading back to the swim-suit section once more, leafing more carefully through the options now that Maria was safely behind a dressing-room door.

Jaksus frowned a bit and rubbed at his neck, "She's not a trader she's a… Uh… A scientist working as a consultant for the Alliance. And we're not together."

The asari paused in the act of pulling out a particularly daring purple suit and shot Jaksus a disbelieving stare. "Uh huh… Somehow I seriously doubt that." She told him.

Jaksus glared at Corina and was about to respond when a tiny, nervous sound dragged their attention back toward the dressing rooms, where Maria was peeking around the corner, trying desperately to hide all but her head from view. "I um…I tried on the white one." She said, her face flushing red again the second she spoke, ducking back into the safety of the dressing room hall the second Jaksus and Corina approached.

Jaksus' tongue swelled and stuck to the roof of his mouth as he finally caught sight of Maria in the swim-suit. It was a one-piece… If you could truly call it that… And boy oh boy did it show off her hips. It clung to her waist and rode low enough that her hip bones were exposed by the peek-a-boo panels on the sides. They left a great deal of her waist and torso completely bare until the suit reclaimed her body somewhere just beneath her breasts. The suit then cut in to reveal all of Maria's shoulder and collar bone to secure itself just around her neck. And when Corina made her turn around he could see how the suit left her shoulder-blades exposed and wrapped around her hindquarters like a paler second skin.

The turian wouldn't have been half surprised to find that his jaw was on the floor at his feet. Maria really did look quite… Sexy. True it wasn't in the traditional way, she wasn't like those asari he'd seen who were tall, languid, exuded confidence, and a kind of 'glamor'. But those women never seemed accessible. They were the type of women who expected to be seduced and enjoyed the power they held because of their beauty. Maria looked as if she'd simply fall into a puddle of mush if she were even touched. Her red cheeks and big doe-eyes sparked something in him that wanted to devour her whole. And honestly, the reaction frightened him. She was a human… She was under his protection… And more often than not she was more a vulnerable child than a woman he could sink his teeth into.

He snapped out of his short daze as he heard Corina give a knowing chuckle from behind him, her brown eyes staring straight through him as if he were made of glass. " 'Not together' huh?"

…

Much to Corina's displeasure (and Jaksus' immense relief) Maria settled on a deep-blue suit that was very modest and (as Corina told it) completely boring. After that point the asari insisted on helping Maria shop for whatever else she needed since her shift was apparently over and Jaksus had little room to argue, since Maria had very few ideas on what was appropriate on the Citadel and Jaksus had no ideas on what was appropriate for a spa. Jaksus was only grateful when they'd finished getting all the things on Maria's list, located A'Garr, and dropped Corina off at her second job.

From there Jaksus let the Krogan escort Maria back to their apartment and set off himself for C-SEC headquarters. It felt odd to him to see his superior while in civvies, but it was good to catch up with his friends in the unit. Apparently most of the unit was celebrating since Kryik had been slated for Spectre training. What's more, a rookie had recently been brought in the squad who not only seemed capable but who had a good sense of humor. Jaksus paid his respects to both the rookie Chellick and to Nihlus, who had been friendly with him but never all that close, and then went off to give his report to the Executor.

The Executor was waiting for him by the time Jaksus finally got to his office and the older turian gestured for him to take a seat. "I've heard about that incident near the docks. Your performance was commendable given the situation."

Jaksus fought the urge to look surprised, it was the first time since he'd joined C-SEC that he'd gotten a compliment from a commanding officer. "Thank you sir."

The Executor simply nodded, made a note of something on a nearby data-pad and made a gesture for Jaksus to go on with his report. Jaksus relayed the recent turn of events, perhaps twisting them a bit to seem more professional (leaving out the bit where he and Maria were now sharing the same bed completely). The Executor only asked him a few questions and gave a few suggestions as he listened. Until at last Jaksus got to the part about the invitation to the Illusion Hotel spa.

He held up a hand and leveled Jaksus with an almost sympathetic stare, "I might try to persuade your ward to abandon that idea if I were you Vikil. The security at Spas can be notoriously shady and unless you're willing to agree to one of those cross-species couples arrangements Ms. St. George will be outside of your protective reach."

Jaksus stilled and nearly slapped himself in the forehead… He hadn't considered that. He fought off an audible groan and nodded to the advise. The Executor smiled, gave him a dismissing wave, and returned to whatever he'd been at work on before Jaksus had come in. The ruddy turian left, his mood suddenly pensive as he worked out how to break the news to Maria… And just which news to break.

He was mumbling rather furiously to himself when he bumped into Tchaolin Han, his Salarian friend from another unit. The dark-skinned salarian laughed at the look on Jaksus' face, as well as his apology and waved away the turian's excuses. "You've got your head up in the stars Vikil. That baby-sitting job turning out to be too much for you?"

Jaksus smiled and surprisingly shook his head, walking down the steps alongside his friend as they headed for the front door. "No I'm doing alright there… Mostly. Maria's alright once you get used to her. She's just… Accident prone I guess."

Han settled Jaksus with an almost disbelieving glance and smirked, "'Once you get used to her' huh? Sounds like trouble to me. You should just be happy you're not working the case I'm on. I got saddled backing up a Spectre and you know how they can be."

Jaksus stared in surprise at the Salarian beside him, "No kidding? Geez who's toe did you step on to get saddled with that assignment?"

Han rolled his eyes and sighed as they turned the corner and headed down the last set of stairs, "They say I got the case due to 'exemplary performance' but if you ask me it's because my supervisor caught me at the range using his rifle instead of my own. It's not my fault the idiot put his identical gun in the wrong rack. But anyway, now I'm stuck acting as clean-up to a guy with a bigger stick up his butt than Vakarian."

Jaksus gave the salarian a sympathetic pat on the back, "Sounds rough buddy. But I'm sure you can handle it. What's your Spectre's name anyhow?"

Han went still and nervous and tossed his head in the direction of the requisition's office where a young, bare-faced turian was emerging. Jaksus felt cold just at the sight of him, "By the spirits… Saren Arterius? Seriously? But he's-"

"The youngest one ever to be inducted… Yeah… I know. Look I gotta go Jaksus. I'll call you up for a drink if I survive this thing." Han told him, beating a hasty retreat.

Jaksus watched him go and couldn't help the pang of sympathy he felt for his friend as he got a glance of those cold steel-blue eyes from across the entry hall. "Suddenly my problems don't seem so bad…" The ruddy turian muttered to himself, before he grabbed a transport and hurried back to his own assignment.

….

Neross: I'm so so so SO sorry this took so long. As I've said before I've been going through some health issues, and now, unfortunately, some personal issues as well. In any case I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and don't forget that if you really want me to update faster the best way is to feed my creativity with a review. Oh, and I also want to give a big thanks to my new Beta Reader Spyke1985. They've been a big great help and I'm really looking forward to continue working with her.

Until next time, keep on rocking out!


	11. What you Want

Neross: See what happens when I finally get a beta reader and mega awesome reviews? I actually update much faster. But seriously you should all be thanking Spyke1985. She is now officially my muse. Okay. Anyway. New chapter ahoy.

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

Beta'd By: Spyke1985

Beta's Note: Neross, you're freaking awesome. I love you so hard. XD

…

After his trip to C-SEC headquarters, Jaksus decided to take a more meandering route back to the apartment, puzzling over what he'd learned. He supposed he should have been focusing on whether or not to call off Maria's spa day, but he already had an idea of how he wanted to handle that little dilemma. And to be honest, the more he put off actually thinking about his plan, the longer he could tell himself it hadn't been a selfish decision based entirely upon the sight of Maria in that white bathing suit Corina had put her in earlier.

Instead, the ruddy turian turned his mind to his friend's assignment with the Council's poster boy for the Spectres. He hated to admit it, but even if he hadn't decided on what to do about Maria, the presence of the bare-faced, turian, icon would still have weighed heavy in his mind. He knew Tchaolin's work with the Spectre was none of his business, but that didn't stop the cold chill of dread that had settled at the base of Jaksus' spine.

Every turian without his head shoved into the ground knew who Saren Arterius was. Or at least what he had done. He was a decorated hero of the Relay 314 incident, and savior of Palaven itself. The public still didn't have most of the details, but everyone knew that Saren had gone against his brother when the man had gone insane and threatened Palaven's safety. What's more, he'd blown up one of the most sacred places for the whole of the turian race in order to save their home world… And killed his brother in the process. It wasn't long after that when he was named a Spectre, the youngest one to ever be admitted into the ranks.

Since then, Saren had gone on to become the pride of Palaven and now the pride of the Council. He was quickly becoming one of the most decorated Spectres of all time. And his presence on the Citadel was concerning. Jaksus could only hope that whatever his business was, it had nothing to do with him. Or Maria.

It took him awhile to return to his apartment building and right away he could tell something was… Off. There was a volus and a pair of asari coming out the front entry when he arrived, all of them slung over each other and giggling in a drunken haze. Normally that sort of sight wouldn't really have fazed the C-SEC regular… But since he not only didn't recognize the asari as anyone who lived in the building… And there were no volus tenants either, Jaksus felt his stomach clench in anticipation of an unpleasant discovery.

He rushed up to his floor, tapping his foot impatiently when the elevator seemed to take too long to get there. The second the elevator doors opened Jaksus heard the throbbing bass associated with loud music… And felt the spark of anger growing in him coalesce into a raging flame. He took two steps out and quickly spotted the two laughing salarians, hanging out by the door to his apartment. His mandibles flickered in anger and he growled as he pushed his way past them into the dark, noisy, crowded din that had become of his apartment.

What he noticed instantly was the amount of aliens that had managed to squeeze into what was HIS space. What's more he could easily see A'Garr laughing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by a group of humans and asari who seemed to be chanting something along the lines of 'Go!'. Jaksus could literally feel the anger cement into a ball of tense muscle at his back and vowed to strangle a certain little red-headed human when he finally found her in this crowd of insane people.

He pushed his way past the crowd by the door, which seemed to be mostly made up of salarians and turians. He didn't bother to apologize as he literally shoved his way through the next group in his way that was entirely elcor, and finally squeezed his way into the chanting group of humans and asari surrounding A'Garr. The krogan was apparently being cheered on in a drinking contest between himself and an older asari of all things. If Jaksus hadn't have known better he might've said the blue-skinned woman was a matriarch… But the Turian shook off the idea and elbowed his way in to the competitor's little circle to "gently" nudge A'Garr on the shoulder.

The crowd booed as the contest was interrupted and the big purple Krogan glared at the ruddy Turian whose glare was equally as impressive. "Where the fuck is Maria?!" Jaksus practically yelled, trying desperately to be heard over the blaring music. The Krogan grinned, thumbed the furious C-SEC agent in the direction of Jaksus' and now Maria's bedroom, then swiftly returned to his drinking game. A'Garr downed another shot of what Jaksus suspected was ryncol and the crowd cheered as the Asari across from him grinned at the continued challenge.

Jaksus rolled his eyes, and pushed his way back out of the crowd as they resumed their chanting and haphazardly made his way to his bedroom. He found Maria there alright, but when he caught sight of her the turian could actually feel his anger and annoyance turn to pure rage. Maria was sitting on their bed… But she was practically in the lap of not only Nava, but the damn saleswoman from earlier. Corina, if he remembered correctly. The three of them were leaning against the headboard of the bed as Maria emphatically waved her hands around as she talked on excitedly about SOMETHING to a captive audience of a hanar, two batarians, a turian, a couple of humans, and a drell of all things.

Jaksus stormed into the group, pushing both a human and a batarian out of the way to get to his frustrating ward. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her from the bed and promptly settled her in his arms. Maria turned a bright red color and stared up at him in surprise as he shot her a dark look, turned on his heel and stalked promptly from the room.

He found it much easier to get out of the apartment than it had been to get in, although he had a feeling that was partly due to the irregular sight he made carrying the tiny human. The groups seemed to part before him and stared openly as he made for the exit. He left the apartment, and carried Maria to the elevator. As he turned and elbowed the button for the lobby he could see both the green quarian and the asari saleswoman frantically following. The Turian glared at them both, and used his omni-tool to hack the elevator controls and shut the door in their face. Only then did Jaksus set Maria down and dare to turn his furious gaze upon her.

"I am only going to ask you this once Maria… What gave you the insane idea that I would be okay with you throwing a party at our apartment? Let alone one of that size. For the sake of the spirits there were batarians there, Maria! What if they were there as part of another plot to kill you?!" It frightened him to know that it was fear and jealousy laced into his anger. He wanted to strangle the pale, little human beside him… And he also wanted to lock her away in a room with him so no one else could ever touch her.

He felt as if he was going insane. The idea was almost confirmed when she looked at him with her big blue eyes, with slightly red cheeks, and bit her lip in a nervous display. "I'm sorry Jaksus. Really. I am! But I only had one or two drinks and A'Garr, Nava, and Corina were there so-"

"Corina is a store clerk we met TODAY. Nava is a quarian you've known for less than a week and A'Garr was in the other room drinking down ryncol like it was water. If I hadn't shown up who knows what could have happened! Did you even think about how this could impact your position with the Council?" Jaksus went on, lecturing her and using her as a channel for his inner turmoil. It wasn't fair… He knew that. But he also didn't think it was fair of her to look that happy with Nava's arm slung around her shoulders.

Maria began to wring her hands and her eyes became slightly glassy as she tried, desperately, to defend herself from Jaksus' verbal assault. "I'm…I'm sorry. It's just…Corina called me and asked if we could hang out and… And I haven't really had a chance to talk to an asari, so I asked A'Garr if it'd be alright if she came by for a bit. Only she brought this friend with her and we ended up playing this new track Corina had bought. And then Nava showed up excited because he'd found a good job and Corina said we should celebrate.

Then the next thing I know, there's a bunch of people and they're all drinking and I tried to tell them that it wasn't a good idea to have a party, but Corina said that I should just relax and have some fun, so I just ended up talking and talking and no one even told me the time and I got distracted by this conversation about the ethics of the compact between the drell and hanar and I just I got so caught up I didn't notice the other people and I'm sorry I'm just… I'm really sorry."

As Maria went on Jaksus could see the way her resolve broke down, her dark blue eyes turned watery and vivid… Like a true sea… And she began to pull on her hair as big droplets began to fall from her eyes. All Jaksus could think about was how he knew how she felt… That chaotic and out-of-control feeling…Because those were the same feelings raging inside of him. Just as the elevator hit the ground floor Jaksus shoved his omni-tool against the elevator controls once more and the whole thing simply stopped as he cut the elevator's power. The lights dimmed, but didn't extinguish completely and Maria looked around at the dying power then at him in confusion and just the tiniest amount of fear.

He hated the fear. He wanted it to go away. He wanted everything to go away. So he let out a sigh, took Maria by the wrist and dragged her down with him as he collapsed against the elevator wall and sunk to the floor. He held her in the inescapable but gentle grip he'd grown used to using with her and stared her in the eyes, needing her to see the turmoil inside him.

He tried his best to make his voice even. He tried very… Very hard, not to sound like he was drowning. "Maria… Damn it all… I wish I could just stay mad at you. I wish I could hate you the way I used to hate your entire species. You… You don't make this easy… You don't make anything easy. When I'm around you, I feel like I'm constantly trying to catch my breath."

The human tried to stifle her tears and took in a deep shuddering breath as she used the heel of the hand he'd left free to brush away the salty streaks left on her cheeks. "I'm sorry-" she began and he snapped his eyes back to her, his expression almost dark.

"Damnit stop apologizing!" He yelled, immediately regretful that he had, worried she'd only cry more.

Instead the petite human stopped crying, went silent, and glared daggers at him. "Well what the hell do you want me to say then?!" She cried back, her voice actually lowering a register as she grew angry with him. "I'm not good at this sort of thing! I don't know how to politely tell an entire room full of various aliens to get the hell out! Most of the time I don't even know how to say 'no' to humans when it's socially correct! In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit socially inept! And apparently that's something that translates across species cultural lines!"

Jaksus rose his brows in surprise and actually had to fight hard not to smile, his mandibles twitching as a result. "Well… You could just tell them to 'get the hell out'. I'm pretty sure that that means the same thing to all species." Jaksus told her.

Maria glared firmly at him and slapped him in the shoulder, "Don't laugh at me, it's not funny damnit!"

Jaksus let out a heavy breath and caught her other wrist and dragged her forward a bit more so she'd stop trying to push him away. "I'm not laughing at you Maria. I just think you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. I've seen you stand up to people in situations that most would find far more threatening than this and put them in their place… While drunk once might I add. You are far more capable than you realize."

Maria stopped struggling and looked at him as if unsure how to respond. He let go of her wrists and simply let them lay where he left them. She stared at him for a long time, looking very much as if she was warring with something within… Before she suddenly got up on her knees. She leaned forward and before Jaksus could stop her… Or more accurately before he could remind himself that he should, he found her very soft lips pressed against his mouth, at the very edge of his mandible.

He lost the feeling in the rest of his body and soon took another action that he figured he'd regret.

…

It was an impulse. That was what Maria told herself. If she hadn't have had those two glasses of wine earlier, she probably would have never had the nerve to do it. Although Jaksus made her feel as if she would have regardless. She knew she was stepping over a line, she knew she was doing something that could probably ruin everything for her. But she felt bold… And decided she no longer cared.

She made a mental note to herself to write down later that because turians had no lips, kissing one was very much like kissing a large bird on the beak. Well… Mouth closed at least. She was going to draw away, contemplate what it would feel like to feel a turian's tongue with hers… Well one particular turian's tongue anyway, when Jaksus took her by the shoulders and promptly answered her question.

His tongue was longer than hers, thinner, pointed at the end… And warm. His mandibles tickled her jaw as he pried apart her lips gently with his mouth. She could feel sharp teeth… A reminder that their origins had been different… That turians were descended from predators. Which explained the aggression she felt in his kiss. She'd never been kissed that way before… Which honestly went without saying, after all she'd never kissed a species without fleshy lips before.

But it went beyond that, down to the very way Jaksus took claim of her. His normal grip had changed, becoming almost painful in the way he held onto her. By the time he finally let her go and pulled away, she was at a loss for breath and was feeling incredibly wobbly. She was only on her knees but suddenly even that wasn't really enough to support her. So she fell back on her heels and gazed up at her bodyguard and roommate wide-eyed and flabbergasted.

After a moment she licked her lips and then touched them when she found them slightly sore. It took her a minute but her cheeks were soon aflame as the reality of what had just happened hit her. Incredibly she let out brief giggle, which she caught, by clapping her hand over her mouth. She looked up at Jaksus and found him gazing at her with one brow raised, and found herself giggling again.

The turian sighed… But there was something of a smile there. Or so Maria thought, she hoped she was getting better at reading Turian expressions, but the truth was she still had a hard time discerning acute facial reactions. Jaksus reached out and wiped away the last remnants of tears from her cheeks and Maria's blush deepened at the soft intimacy she felt at his touch.

Jaksus' mandible flickered but he said nothing and simply moved his hands away to straighten the collar of her shirt and then to smooth out her hair. She held perfectly still as he did so, though she felt as if her whole body was shaking. "I…I um…" Maria stuttered, suddenly at a loss for words.

Jaksus grinned openly and Maria thought she detected just a hint of wickedness in his smile. "Well now… I finally figured out how to get you to stop talking."

…

When they finally left the elevator, Jaksus suggested they take the stairs back up in order to tell the party guests that the fun was over and they had to leave. Maria reluctantly agreed, still rather red in the face from their time in the elevator, and they began their trek up the stairs. Only as they went, they ran into party guests on the departure… Bemoaning the sudden break-down of the elevator. Maria fought back giggles and Jaksus fought just as hard to keep from smiling.

When they finally got back to the apartment, the two discovered a very repentant Corina, and a rather irritated quarian, who informed them both that they'd canceled the party after Jaksus had locked them out of the elevator. Apparently the turian's anger and sudden snatching of Maria had been interpreted as purely an irritation that his normal sleeping quarters were taken up by a crowd of people. For his part, Jaksus let them go on believing that this was so.

Mostly everyone had left, save for A'Garr and the asari who'd been drinking against him. The two were apparently thoroughly drunk (no surprise there) and were singing together to a much quieter version of some old song Jaksus' parents had liked when he was young. Needless to say Jaksus recorded a fair bit of the two singing, though oddly enough they both sounded rather in harmony since the asari's voice was uncharacteristically deep.

When the song finally ended, the two left stumbling together, though Corina ensured Jaksus she'd help them both back to their destinations safely. The younger asari ran to catch up with the two drunkards and soon even they were gone, leaving just the three current housemates with the apartment… And the mess. Jaksus groaned at the sight but was relieved when he noted that it had somehow been contained to the living room, kitchen, and Nava's bathroom.

Although the quarian certainly didn't find it quite as appealing, as he bemoaned the fact that he'd have to decontaminate his bathroom and bedroom again before he even attempted to get some sleep. Jaksus merely shot the engineer a wry smirk and told him that it was the least he deserved for encouraging the party in the first place. He did assure Nava however that he and Maria would handle the kitchen and living room, so he needn't bother paying much attention to those areas as he cleaned.

The quarian seemed thankful and Jaksus was more than happy for the distraction. It took the three of them most of the night to clean up the place and by the time they were finally ready to get some rest, the turian was too tired to think about the heated kiss he'd shared with Maria in the elevator. Maria seemed to feel the same, because she was asleep the second her head hit the pillow and Jaksus gratefully accepted the silence.

He fell asleep quickly… And regretfully found his dreams plagued by the feel of the tiny soft body only a few inches away from his own.

…

Neross: So tired. Nope….just …yeah Jaksus and I are on the same page here. I'm tired. Gonna take nap now. Destroy universe later. Reviews help me write faster. Like I did this time. Leave me them. They make me forget about real life woes so that I can make awesome things for you. Don't you want awesome things? THEN GIVE ME YOUR WORDS AND OPINIONS DANGIT! …ok…bed now.

'Till next time keep on ro-zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.


	12. Love Me or Hate Me

Neross: Well hello there all my faithful readers. Guess who's back again?! And just in time for Halloween too! Think of it as my own little treat. Anyway let's all get down to the next highly anticipated chapter shall we?

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

Beta'd by: Spyke1985

…..

Maria woke up the morning after the party feeling a bit off. Her muscles slightly ached from the cleaning she'd done. Her stomach was slightly upset from the alcohol, and after a moment of hazy wonder, the memory of the kiss she shared with Jaksus returned to the foreground of her mind. She lay still for a moment considering the kiss until she recognized that something else was off. Mostly, she surmised, the strange feeling came from being embraced by Jaksus.

Maria's face warmed and she was sure she'd turned the same shade as a tomato. She held very still, almost not daring to breathe. One of his arms was around her waist and the other was over her shoulder. She felt very much like a body pillow, not that that was a bad thing. In fact, it felt rather nice being held by the turian. None of this did anything to fix the color of her face however. She lay there wondering what to do and if this strange embrace meant anything, until she told herself to stop over-thinking things.

Or so she thought, until Jaksus stirred and woke beside her. And suddenly Maria felt as if she was paralyzed. She could almost feel time slow down as her heartbeat sped up. Jaksus yawned as he woke, which Maria watched with fascination as his mouth opened and his mandibles pulled apart to show off the very depths of his mouth. A mouth, she reminded herself, that she'd kissed.

Subconsciously Jaksus drew her in closer until she was practically squished against his chest. Despite her best attempts at self control Maria let out a tiny bit of a squeak and instantly found herself the subject of a direct, green-eyed, gaze. For what seemed like a blink away from forever, they were both quiet and withdrawn. Each one most likely focused on their own thoughts. But without speaking Maria could feel Jaksus' talons contract and relax at her waist and back. Finally the C-SEC agent broke the silence by releasing a sigh, then tugging on a strand of her hair. "This is ridiculous. I don't want us to go on being this awkward and quiet." He grumbled, sitting up and propping an arm up on his knee.

Maria sat up slowly, clutching the sheets to her chin and stared hopefully up at her bodyguard, "I thought you preferred it when I was quiet." She commentated in a hushed voice.

Jaksus growled and grabbed her by the chin, practically glaring at her, "Preferring solid, comprehensible sentences I can understand, to endless breathless chatter is not the same as preferring you silent and upset. I like you the way you are." Jaksus' voice was low and furious, but somehow Maria didn't find him frightening. In fact her mind drifted to something completely different.

There was a pregnant pause and Jaksus smiled, chuckled, and took her face between his hands. "What in this great galaxy are you thinking about Maria? You're face is as red as your hair." He mused.

Maria's eyes widened and briefly she looked away. She bit her lip and almost couldn't bring herself to say anything. "Oh, um, I… It's… It's nothing important. Just um…You…You just… I just think you sound kind of… Well… Sexy… When you're angry." Maria finally managed to stutter out.

Jaksus was silent for a moment before grinning and breaking out into laughter,"Maria, by the spirits… Honestly you are quite the little sweet talker." He told her. Then, in an instant, his mouth was on hers.

…

Jaksus had to admit, he actually liked kissing Maria. He'd kissed asari before, but none of them had been as soft, or as warm as Maria was. As he kissed her, he slipped his hands down to pull her closer. She was as soft as a child's blanket and as warm as sunlight. He tried not to taste her… But hints of her lingered on his tongue, and he was surprised to find that she was spicy, tangy; like some sort of exotic drink.

When he at last pulled away he found Maria dazed, and grinning. "Well that was um… That was definitely a learning experience." She murmured happily.

Jaksus chuckled, brushing the tiny human's hair away from her face, and grinned. "So glad I could help further your education in turian physiology." He told her.

Maria's face warmed again, although this time it remained a cheery shade of pink, instead of sinking into that deep red the C-SEC officer had come to know. Jaksus smiled and gently pulled her hands away from her face, wanting to kiss her again. But as he leaned forward to follow through on his desire, there was a sharp, loud, _furious_ knock at their door. The turian let out a low growl and shot a glare at the door. When the knock came again, harder the second time, Jaksus rubbed a hand over his face, threw back the blankets and stormed to the door on agitated feet.

He assumed that it was Nava, the quarian proving once more to be a pain in the gizzard. However, Nava was nowhere to be seen when Jaksus opened the door. Instead there stood a tall, broad-shouldered human, with a coppery sort of brown hair and a pair of sharp gray-blue eyes. The man was dressed casually, and Jaksus almost thought he looked familiar… Until he spotted the fist flying toward his face.

The ruddy alien barely managed to dodge, and he instantly took a step back and growled in anger. Great, he thought, the apartment security had slacked off and let either an assassin or just a crazed thug into the building. Clearly his opponent had some kind of combat training, because the second punch was a feint first and then a painful shot to the side of Jaksus' face. He was thrown back, and recoiled as his hand went to his throbbing mandible. He shot Maria only a cursory glance, then glared at the man still advancing upon him. "Maria, get in the bathroom and lock the door. I'll handle this." He told her, already picking out in his head where he'd stashed his weapons and arms.

But clearly Maria did not run, because Jaksus could see her standing to the side of the bed, her face stuck in an expression of disbelief. Her turian bodyguard growled in frustration, but had no time to tell her to run again as he found himself tackled to the ground. The human from the doorway grappled him and knocked him good in the gut with his knee. Jaksus bent and groaned in pain, taking the first punch to his head like a wall takes an artillery strike from a tank. He barely blocked the next blow and snarled, using his superior height and body weight to toss the attack off.

He would have been on him in an instant, but he found Maria had actually managed to successfully put the man in a headlock… And oddly enough he wasn't resisting. Maria -for her part- looked livid. Not the shaken fear he expected, and had witnessed after their first attack. No, this is was just plain anger. And suddenly it all became clear… Because the man who'd attacked him looked just like Maria.

…

Maria couldn't believe her eyes when she spotted her youngest older brother standing in the doorway to their bedroom. She'd been convinced that Brandon would be on deployment for at least another three months. But there he was standing in the doorway… Well, alright, there he was punching the crap out of her bodyguard. Maria stared in horror, having only enough sense to jump from the bed and stand in disbelief as the two men tousled. Jaksus shouted at her to run, but Maria knew they weren't in any real danger. She did not, however, appreciate her brother beating up on _her_ turian.

Her brain skipped a beat over that thought, but she threw it off when she found an opening at last. Jaksus had thrown her brother aside, and Maria simply reacted. She put her brother in a headlock. The one he'd shown her how to do as children and the same one she used to try and subdue him with which usually just wound up being an awkward piggy-back ride for her. This time however, her brother went still, though he shot her a very disappointed look, while Maria simply glared back at him.

"Brandon, stop trying to beat up my bodyguard! What in the world has gotten into you?!" Maria snapped.

Her brother easily pulled her off, and stood, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Jaksus, who simply glared back from his spot on the floor. After a tense moment of silence where the two men eyed each other up, Maria let out a frustrated sigh, threw up her hands in defeat and helped Jaksus to stand. "Brandon, why are you even here? I thought you were still out on deployment."

Her brother turned his intense gaze upon her and his lip twitched in agitation. "I got early leave the second I heard from Ren that your so-called protection detail was a god-damn turian. I don't know how dad signed off on this, but I am not about to let my baby sister spend the next year rooming with a skull-face, studying how aliens shake hands!"

Maria felt her blood go suddenly cold. She glared at her brother, and without thinking, slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Then, for added measure, she stomped on his foot, and hit him straight in the gut. She continued to glare at him as he bent over and could actually hear the quavering fury in her voice as she spoke. "Don't. You. _Dare_. Call him or any other turian that. My brother knows better and if not, then I don't care. I am NOT a child Brandon, and I will not let you, mother, or anyone else dictate what I decide to do with my life. This was my decision, and I am not some doll you get to cart around and do what you want with. Now you can either leave right this damn second… Or you can apologize to my FRIEND, and we can move on with our lives."

Her brother stared at her in disbelief for a long moment, and although she did not know it Jaksus was also staring at her in a bit of awe. But after a deep, intense silence, Brandon sighed, ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Jaksus with a deeply guilty expression. "I…I'm sorry. I guess I just flipped when I saw you without a shirt… And my sister laying in the bed. I…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done… Or said… Any of those things."

Maria turned to look at Jaksus and the turian hesitated, then awkwardly shifted his stance and held out a hand, "It's alright… I think if I had a sister I might have done the same."

Maria rolled her eyes, but smiled regardless when Brandon shook Jaksus' offered hand. "Only child I take it?" Brandon asked.

The C-SEC officer nodded.

"Lucky S.O.B."

….

Brandon, it turned out, was a special-ops marine sent with Alliance research teams on colonization voyages. He'd never fought in the First Contact War, but he had lost a few good friends in the effort to reclaim Shanxi…which explained the slur and his tension around turians. Maria seemed almost insulted and embarrassed by her brother's bias. But it was something Jaksus understood all too well. At the very least, the two had a great conversation about their run-ins with batarians and their mercenary tactics. Maria sent them disapproving glares, but neither one seemed to care.

After awhile the brunette admitted that he'd earned himself a bit of early shore-leave by aiding in the defense of an Alliance trading frigate. He'd then learned about Maria's situation with Jaksus, as well as the batarian attempt on her life, and panicked. Ren, his life-partner, had been the asian Alliance officer in Maria's initial protection detail. The ruddy turian managed to recall the dark-haired man chewing the petite woman out the first day they'd met. It was rather funny now to find out that her tough-as-nails brother was committed to such a man. They made an excellent pair, and Jaksus said as much.

Maria's brother was flattered, but seemed concerned when the subject of Linda Shepard's visit was broached. It appeared the woman held an odd amount of respect and fear amongst both siblings… Which only made Jaksus more curious. The C-SEC agent wished to discuss it further, but Brandon admitted that he had plans to meet Ren at the docks and take his husband out to dinner. Maria had been about to ask if they could join them when Jaksus clamped a hand over her mouth and let Brandon go on his merry way.

He explained to the complaining human later that sometimes when a solider gets off leave, he just wants to spend that time with the person he dreamed about at night. Maria had stared at him a moment, turned a bright shade of red… And let the rest pass. Jaksus laughed, felt the desire to kiss her… Then remembered the words exchanged that morning between brother and sister… And suddenly he was unsure that he'd ever made the right choice to kiss her the first time.

…..

Neross: Alright so a shorter, less happy chapter this time. But it was needed. In any case I hope you all enjoyed the appearance of Brandon as well as the tiny little call-back to the beginning of this epic little tale of mine. I promise you I won't have you try to recall minuscule characters from the series…but you may want to pay attention to background characters in this fic, because trust me when I say they ALL serve a purpose.

Other than that you all know the drill. Leave a review to get me back to the grindstone quicker, and be sure to check my profile for updates. Love once more to my wonderful BR Spyke1985 and to everyone else,

A HAPPY HALLOWEEN! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	13. Forsaken

Neross: Hey everybody! I hope you all had an awesome Halloween. And for those of you who didn't I'm sorry, that's terrible. For those of you who don't celebrate Halloween…you should. Halloween is more fun than a pile of puppies. In any case, I hope you all appreciate this next chapter and enjoy it!

Warning: This fanfiction may contain foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

Beta'd by: Spyke1985

…..

Brandon stuck around for a few days after his first "visit" and made sure to spend time with Maria, despite the limited leave he and Ren had to spend together. There was always a bit of tension between her brother and her new alien friends, but it was something Maria could work with. And when she couldn't Ren was quick to remind his husband about proper manners. Both Alliance soldiers seemed to make hesitant, but quick friends out of Jaksus, although there was something… Off about the turian's behavior, ever since that first initial meeting.

Maria knew something was wrong, but could not for the life of her put her finger on what it was. Somehow, she got the feeling she'd done something wrong… Or else that something had gone wrong despite her best efforts. Each morning when she woke up now she either found herself alone… Or she found Jaksus already dressing for the day ahead. He'd ruffle her hair, even smile at her in way he'd never done before. But there was none of that desire she'd felt from him that morning after the party.

In fact it almost seemed as if the C-SEC agent went through extra steps to put distance between them. Before, Jaksus had never allowed her to venture out on her own farther than a two block radius around the apartment. But now? Now he actually encouraged her to go out with the others on her own. Sometimes he'd stay behind doing research and sometimes he'd go off to C-SEC headquarters.

Maria found it… Disheartening. She kept trying to spend time with him, she'd even stay behind at times when she thought he might be staying… But he always seemed to find something to do. Maria was beginning to become frustrated… Even upset. She asked him if she'd done something wrong but he told her no, that everything was fine, and that he'd simply been caught up with a few things. He promised her that everything was fine, then he went off on his own again.

Maria hated it, and when Branden and Ren left and went back on duty, the human found herself feeling angry… And alone. In a way she'd never quite understood before. She began to hate Jaksus for making her feel like she was beautiful…Like she was not only normal… But strong. And now, it was like she meant nothing. Now, he couldn't even bear to look at her.

Nava tried to make her feel better, and the quarian often took her out to what had been her favorite places to go to… When Jaksus was still bothering to look after her. She began to find the food on the Citadel tasteless, and interacting with others became a challenge. Eventually she stopped going out completely, and locked herself away in the room she shared with her bodyguard. She turned her entire focus onto her work and her study. Sometimes she'd forget to eat, but somehow she'd always find a meal waiting for her when she turned around.

She'd forget to actually slip into bed to sleep… Sometimes forgetting to sleep at all. But when she did nod off she'd wake to find someone had draped a blanket over her shoulders. After a week of this behavior, forgetting to bathe as well, she woke from one nap to find herself in the shower, the water running warm over her, clothing and all. These things, these small things, all sang of Jaksus… But they did nothing but make Maria feel worse that he was choosing to avoid her otherwise.

So Maria forgot everything else and plowed ahead. She turned in report after report, page after page of her work to the Council. She received nothing but praise in return, but it still wasn't enough to heal whatever hole it was that had suddenly been created in her life. She was running out of ideas -running out of patience- the day that she was alone and the doorbell rang.

When she answered the door, Maria could actually feel the floor fall out from beneath her feet.

"Well? Are you going to let me in or are you going to stand there with your mouth open catching flies?" Linda Shepard asked, bold as day, her lightning blue eyes piercing straight into Maria's soul.

….

Jaksus was beginning to hate himself. After that first day spent with Maria's brother, the truth of the turian's situation came back to strike him, painfully, in the face. He'd allowed himself to forget. That he was a turian and Maria was human. That he was a bodyguard and she was his charge. That she was Maria… And he was a fool to touch her. He tried to distance himself from her, encouraged her to go out with other friends while he busied himself with chasing down leads on the batarian group who'd attacked them both.

The more he distanced himself however, the more reclusive Maria became. She even confronted him once, asked if she'd done something wrong. He told her what he thought would soothe her… But it only seemed to make matters worse. The part he hated most was the way Nava tried to comfort Maria, taking her out to the places _he'd_ shown Maria. The places she loved. Soon, even that wasn't enough to keep Maria from withdrawing from the people around her. She went back to her old habits, the ones she'd had before Jaksus had encouraged her to go out and experience or even learn things for herself.

He couldn't stand seeing her retreat into herself that way. So he did his best to keep her safe and alive without her knowing. He'd make her food when he knew she hadn't eaten. He'd put a blanket over her the few times she'd manage to sleep. And when she began to smell, he snuck her into the shower while she slept. Not that this really changed Maria's behavior. And Jaksus began to understand that in pushing her away… He'd begun to destroy her. He hated himself for it, but had no idea how to fix the damage he'd already done.

He'd been thinking over that more than that the actual information he was supposed to be going over while at the C-SEC headquarters. Eventually he gave up, shut off his console and took a moment to stretch his sore muscles before he stood to leave. He was leaning back in the elevator, waiting for the doors to close when someone slipped in at the last minute. Jaksus actually smiled when he found Tchaolin Han had managed to slide in before the doors closed. The salarian was smiling, so Jaksus could either assume the dark-green, bright-eyed salarian was happy to see him, or his job with the infamous Saren Arterius had gone well.

"Hello Han, I take it your assignment went well." The ruddy turian said with a grin.

The salarian gave him a rather curious look and tapped him on the arm. "It did… Although I don't see how you would've known that."

Jaksus gave a brief chuckle and tapped Tchaolin on the arm. "You were working with a Spectre. If your assignment hadn't gone well, you'd be dead or else permanently scarred."

Tchaolin gave him a tiny glare and shook his head. "Good point. You, by the way, look like crap. Has your human babysitting assignment taken a turn for the worse?"

Jaksus gave a sigh and tugged on his collar before he shot his friend a glance. "I dunno Han. I think I screwed up. I did the one thing I shouldn't, and when I tried to fix it, I just made things worse."

Tchaolin looked at him skeptically and had the gall to smirk. "Okay… Sounds like things actually got better on your end. I thought you couldn't stand humans?"

Jaksus growled slightly, but didn't bother to deny it. He just hung his head and stared at his feet. "Yeah… So did I. Maria kind of… Proved me wrong. Although I'm beginning to find that she can do that sort of thing to a lot of people."

Tchaolin laughed and shot his turian friend a wicked grin. "Oh man… You have it bad. So what, you slept with her and now you're worried she's gonna report it?"

Jaksus stared at his friend in surprise. "What? No! We uh… We never got that far. I just…I feel like I'm either taking advantage of her, or else getting in way over my head."

Tchaolin gave a smug sort of snort and shook his head. "Well you are in over your head, I'll give you that. So what went wrong?"

At that moment the elevator came to a halt at the side of the presidium lake, and Jaksus gestured for Tchaolin to follow him as he sought out a secluded place where they could talk without being overheard. "Well… We kissed… A couple of times… And then her brother showed up, and… Spirits… I guess he just kind of put everything in perspective. So I tried to end what was happening between us before it could really begin."

Tchaolin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. That worked a little too well and now she hates you."

That had never even occurred to Jaksus, and he stared in wonder at his salarian friend before groaning and burying his face in his hands. "Shit… Well that would explain quite a lot. Damnit I didn't want her to hate me I just… Damn."

The dark-green salarian gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "My advice? Get over it. Doesn't sound like you forced yourself on her, so I'm really not seeing a problem. Although I wouldn't let the Executor know."

"Well aren't you just the relationship expert. How's that breeding contract going by the way?"

"Ha ha, Vikil. Listen, I'm serious here. I've been around enough of you species that actually date to know that you're beating yourself up over petty details. So get your head out of your ass and go apologize to that human of yours already."

"She's not… Fine. You've got a point." Jaksus growled, though he smiled regardless. "You know you still owe me a drink."

"I'm off for the next two days. Talk to me tomorrow after you've gotten whatever your issues are straightened out." Tchaolin told him, standing and crossing his arms as he regarded the ruddy turian on the bench.

Jaksus smiled at his friend and gave him a half-hearted wave as the salarian went on his own way. The C-SEC agent sat there for some time, gauging how he'd settle things with Maria, considering all of his options. Finally he sighed, stood, and headed back to the apartment.

He managed to make good time, despite having his head up in space. He took a few moments outside the apartment's door, taking several deep breaths as he settled his nerves.

He opened the door hesitantly and was surprised to spot Maria in the living room, considering how much time she'd been spending holed up in their room. She was sitting on the couch, one of her datapad books clasped in her hands. "Maria… Look… There's something I need to say so just… Don't say anything until I'm done."

"I know I've been… Absent lately. And I'm sorry for that. After that thing with your brother I just… Well, I panicked. There's no real precedent for what's happened between us and what I… Well… What I want to happen between us. Deciding to end what we had just started was a mistake… And I'm sorry." He told her, his voice heavy with regret.

And then the strangest thing happened to him. A voice, older than Maria's, and deeper replied. "Well…I should think so." Then the woman Jaksus had thought was Maria turned, and the turian found himself gazing at an older woman with eyes the color of lightning… And just as fierce.

Other than the color of her hair this woman looked nothing like Maria. Her face was too angular, her nose too sharp, her mouth a different shape. She was taller than his ward as well, and thicker at the hips, thighs, and in the chest. For a moment Jaksus was confused, embarrassed, and concerned… Until he remembered the announcement Maria had made over a week ago. "You're uh…Linda Shepard I take it?"

The woman's lips twitched up into a smirk, and she stood with a grace he knew Maria had never exhibited. "I am indeed. And you must be the stupid turian looking after my favorite little genius."

Jaksus glared at her, as the woman simply raised a brow and folded her arms across her chest. "Don't look at me that way young man, those were her words, not mine. If you hadn't been so concerned with your own issues, you might have noticed the issues of the woman you're clearly head over heels for."

The turian balked and shot the woman a nearly insulted look. "I…I'm not-"

"Good at admitting what's painfully obvious to everyone else? Clearly." Linda inserted, leaving no time for Jaksus to finish his rebuttal. The ruddy turian growled and glared at the older woman before rolling his eyes. He honestly couldn't tell if this introduction was more painful than the one he'd had with Maria's brother.

…..

Linda Shepard had essentially pushed her way into the apartment, and Maria was more than a little helpless to stop her. But that was the way with her, Maria knew that. The older woman had shouldered her way inside, and taken one look at Maria that made her turn red from embarrassment and run for the bathroom to take a shower and change into some actual clothing.

From there her sister's mother-in-law smiled, and dragged her out to lunch. Maria had no idea how Linda knew, but the place she chose was her favorite lunch spot on the citadel. A tiny little hole-in-the-wall amongst Zakera ward that sold meals dedicated to Krogan tastes; mainly varren skewers, but they had a few other dishes that Maria enjoyed. Including a strange dish made with crawler meat that tasted similar to curry. Maria wanted to ask how Linda knew about the place at all, wanted to ask why she chose to come… But ended up loosing track of what she wanted to say when A'Garr spotted them from a table tucked away in a corner.

The big krogan smiled in his usual way, until he caught sight of Linda. Then his expression faltered as he gazed in curiosity at the older, taller woman beside Maria. "And here I thought Maria was the only human that was as colorful as those strange asari birds." A'Garr commented, as he shook Linda's hand.

The older woman smiled in her easy, confident way, the smile causing creases to appear around her eyes. "You should see my granddaughter. She's like a little living flame. Linda Shepard, the details can get confusing, so just think of me as Maria's older friend."

A'Garr grinned and shot Maria an impressed lift of the brow. "Well whatever you are, any friend of Maria's is a friend of mine. Come sit, I'll see if this place has anything your sensitive human stomachs can stand."

Linda gave a laugh, took a seat, and flipped through the menu once, briefly; before shutting it closed, shoving it forward on the table and giving a smirk. "Well now I'm just intrigued. I'll have the thresher stew and a shot of ryncol to wash it down. I'd hate to think of my husband rolling in his grave because his wife didn't rise to meet a damn challenge."

There was moment of silence amongst the table's inhabitants, then after a moment A'Garr gave a nervous chuckle and tapped the menu she'd slid forward. "You uh… You do realize that thresher maws spit acid right? That doesn't just leave the meat."

"You say that like it'll change my mind. Honestly I really like the idea of eating something that could have swallowed me whole when it was alive. Now… Unless anyone else has some kind of objection, I'd like to get my damn meal and my damn drink."

And that, was officially, that. A'Garr withheld his laughter until their meals arrived, and Linda ate away without so much as a blink. She grinned a bit in satisfaction when the meal was over, then promptly washed everything down with her drink. Which funnily enough gave the older woman pause. She stared at her glass as if it had suddenly grown legs, and arms, then flipped her off. " Okay… So that made me instantly drunk. "

A'Garr couldn't help but explode with laughter, and Maria ended up laughing along, the first time she'd done so in over a week. Linda just… Had a way about her. She made people fall in love with her; her sister's brother-in-law had been the same way. And Gene… Well… She had the same potential. Shepards just had that sort of spark in them that made them the kind of people others could trust and follow, almost without question. Maria loved that about Linda and her family… But she also greatly envied it.

After their lunch, they said good bye to A'Garr and went their separate ways. Maria and Linda returned to the apartment, and Linda insisted that Maria pick out something nice to wear for the evening, because she was definitely going to take her out. She grabbed one of Maria's books and nearly locked the bedroom door behind her. Maria sighed… But ended up smiling regardless. She'd forgotten all about her problems and her pain with Linda there. She'd forgotten all about how angry and disappointed she was with Jaksus. And she was extremely grateful for it.

So she turned, hoping to find something to change into, when she noticed a new dress amongst the others that she'd never seen before. She frowned, wondering where it could have come from, then realized it was nothing more than Linda's subtle way of giving her a gift. She'd done it before; she was a generous woman, but she liked to hide it. She gave her nearly one hundred digital books once, ones that she had needed and wanted, but when Maria had tried to thank her for it, Linda had acted confused and denied she'd done anything at all.

So Maria smiled to herself, bowed her head, shook it in disbelief, and pulled the dress from the depths of her closet. She slipped it on with some hesitation, but as she stared at herself in the mirror Maria could hardly believe she was even the same person.

The dress was a deep midnight blue that hugged her curves, but exposed most of her back. It had a high collar and came down in a thinner, darker, material that held tiny spots of silver-like stars. The same material sliced down from her hip to her feet in a flare of starlight. It had thin sleeves that lay just below her shoulders and exposed her collar bones. The dress made her eyes shine and darken all at once, like the ocean waves during a storm. In comparison, her hair looked like a flaming beacon and her skin as creamy white as milk.

Maria loved it. She giggled, and had to take a deep breath in order to stop herself from crying. She slipped on a pair of shoes that Corina had picked out for her the day they'd gone out shopping together, then practically ran to show the dress to Linda.

But when she opened the door, she found Jaksus outside as well as Linda, and Maria felt her knees weaken as she looked up at the ruddy turian she'd kissed, then lost. He'd been talking to Linda when she'd come out, but the second he spotted her Jaksus went silent. And he just stared at her, with his direct, sharp, predatory gaze.

Maria didn't know what to do. She felt her spine tingle in a way that was becoming all too familiar, and she had no idea what to do about it. He made her want to melt into the floor. Maria had to thank all the gods in existence when Linda stepped in with a smile and took her hand. "Well now… That's much better. Why don't you give me turn so I can see how the back looks?"

Maria hesitated, but after a moment did as she was asked and gave a slow spin. She must have missed something when her back was turned, because when she was facing the others once more, Linda was grinning as if she knew something and Jaksus looked embarrassed. "You're perfect Maria. Absolutely beautiful. Don't you agree cop-boy?"

Linda's tone caught Jaksus' attention and he glared for a second at the older woman before he turned his attention back upon Maria. His expression became strange, and Maria felt heat rise into her face as a smile slowly grew upon his. " Yes…" He said, his voice no more than a husky murmur, "She looks stunning."

…

Linda told them to call on their friends, insisted they invite them all, then pushed Jaksus to change. When he was done he found that the older woman had magically changed as well; the green and black casual dress she'd worn before was now something even Jaksus could identify as a high-fashion pant-suit. There was a high-collar and bare shoulders, flared sleeves as well as the cuff of her pants. Trim waist with a thin belt that hung off her hips as if it were about to fall. And all of this in a deep rich blue and black with sleek silver accents. He had to admit, this woman knew how to make herself and those she cared about look good.

She took one glance at him and smirked in the way that Jaksus was beginning to associate with either bad or embarrassing experiences, and placed a gentle guiding hand on the small of Maria's back. "Well now… And here I was afraid he wouldn't clean up well. Your boy looks good Maria."

The shorter human turned a bright shade of red and tugged on her hair. "Oh, um he's not... We're not-"

"Uh huh. That's nice sweetheart. Come on, let's shake some tail-feathers and get going. I want to see if I can out drink that Krogan friend of yours." Linda said, in effect dismissing Maria's stuttered objections. In a flurry the older woman had them out the door and managed to grab Nava as he was returning from his job out on the wards. The quarian stuttered out objections and confused questions, all of which were soon dismissed or otherwise ignored by Linda, as she whisked them all off to the wards once more.

Jaksus was happy to find that the restaurant they'd been invited out to was one he knew. What's more, he was happy to find Tchaolin Han waiting for them there. The salarian's eyes lit up at the sight of Jaksus along with his strange little entourage, and the turian could see the salarian's face practically crack with amusement. Jaksus shot the fellow C-SEC agent a look, but shook his hand in greeting anyway. He introduced Han to Maria, Linda, and Nava; and had to fight from laughing as the salarian finally found himself facing someone who could talk almost as quickly as he did.

He could practically taste Maria's intrigue and excitement as she began to question Tchaolin about his job, where he lived on the citadel, his family life, and his dating habits. Han blinked rapidly and shot Jaksus a pleading glance, which merely made the turian laugh. Not long after, both Corina and A'Garr showed up, and the old Krogan seemed excited to see Linda there. He greeted both humans warmly and sized up the new salarian amongst the group.

Tchaolin merely grinned at the Krogan in the way one bad-seed might grin at another, and soon A'Garr was smiling again. After a moment of introductions, the group headed inside and Jaksus was less than surprised that Linda Shepard took control, but more surprised that no one fought the human woman over it. The turian was rather impressed when Linda silenced the waiters' silent objection over the few odd members of their group with nothing more than a look. She commanded the room in a way he'd seen few individuals able to do. It was hard to remember that this woman was just an artist.

The older woman wound up sitting beside Corina, and Jaksus looked on in near amazement as the asari seemed to fall under the woman's thrall. What's more, thanks to the asari shop girl, Jaksus was able to learn a great deal more about the strong human being, who seemed so capable of reading the people around her as if they were all open books. He learned that she'd been a young journalism student when she'd met her husband. They married six months after they met, because Linda had been impatient and refused to wait to marry the alliance solider she'd met and fallen in love with.

They had their first child, a girl, not long after; and Linda began to work through her husband's occupation to move the entire family up in the world. She invested in alliance interests, and was soon making more money for the family than her husband did. Then, while she was pregnant with her son, her husband died while on tour. She gave birth to her son on her own, and her children inherited her name and heritage instead. Her investments and money still in place, Linda turned to the other talents she had to keep money coming in while staying at home and caring for her children. It just so happened that painting was the thing she excelled at.

She made a name for herself in the art world, but refused to tour with her paintings until her children were out of the house. One off to college, the other following in his father's footsteps straight into the Alliance. There her son met Maria's oldest sister, fell in love, got married, and had a child. Maria's niece, and Linda's granddaughter, Gene Shepard. But there, the story ended. Everything else was sort of shrugged aside, or else ignored for another topic. It made Jaksus nervous and gave him the impression that something terrible must have happened.

He knew better than to pry, and it seemed the others did as well. The conversation turned and Jaksus learned no more about the connection between Maria and Linda, other than the fact that they'd become quite close through Maria's sister. Jaksus wondered about it, but after awhile he became focused on something else. He became focused on Maria. On how close she was, on how beautiful her dress made her look, and how excellent she smelled. Suddenly his absence from her became so apparent to him, and so _painful_ he could hardly breathe.

He was extremely grateful when the dinner was over. He was even more grateful when Linda opted to return to her hotel instead of coming back to the apartment with them. He did raise a brow in a curious way when Corina asked if she could go with her. The older human seemed confused as well, but eventually conceded, and the two went off together. Tchaolin bid his good-byes, and to Jaksus' surprise went off with A'Garr with the promise of drinks. Which left Nava, Maria, and Jaksus to return together to their apartment.

Jaksus and Maria had a hard time striking up a conversation with one another. The quarian on the other hand had an easy time talking about his new job with Maria. Apparently Nava had scored a job working for the Citadel port authority, repairing ships that had been damaged. Even better, he seemed to making a good amount of money at his job. Enough that he'd even begun to start looking at apartments in the wards so he could have a place of his own. While Jaksus highly enjoyed the idea of the quarian engineer moving out and leaving the apartment to just the two of them, he'd also grown quite fond of having the excuse to keep Maria in his bed. Still, he preferred the idea of the apartment without the interfering quarian engineer.

When they got back, Nava thankfully retired to his room, which left Jaksus alone with Maria. The silence began to stretch on, until finally Jaksus gave Maria a wicked grin and the little human turned a bright shade of red. She opened her mouth in a question, and Jaksus took the air and words straight from her as he crossed the room and lifted her in a blur. He swung her up and grinned when she seemed so surprised and so totally in awe that everything was lost to her.

He carried her straight back into their bedroom and sat her down on their bed. She gave a tiny bounce and stared up at Jaksus in question, until he meshed his mouth against hers. He kissed her like he'd wanted to kiss her for days. He poured all of his desires into his kiss, tracing his hands from her face to her torso, and then to her hips. Those desirous hips which seduced him with every swaying step. He kneaded at the flesh he found there, surprised at the muscle he could feel… Surprised even more at just how pliant she was.

He felt her hands drift up hesitantly to his neck and then his fringe, her fingers searching, investigating, putting pressure here and there until she found a spot beneath his fringe that had him humming. He'd forgotten how much she'd been reading, maybe she'd been reading a little something about turian biology. Either way… He loved it.

When he at last broke contact with her lips he found her dazed, but smiling in a hesitant way, her eyes a dreamy swirl of blues. "I uh…I missed you too?" She offered quietly, hesitantly, her voice lingering on something of a hysterical giggle.

Jaksus' mandibles flickered with his conflicting emotions, but eventually he smiled and laid down beside her, pulling her into an embrace. "I was an idiot…" He muttered, barely letting the words pass his lips.

Maria said nothing, instead she simply lay in his arms for a moment… Until at last she wrapped her arms around him as best she could. "I know this thing between us is going to be difficult. I know that at times it'll be overwhelming or even confusing but… Maybe… We can talk it out together. We can rely on each other… Next time I mean." Maria told him, her tone tentative, reserved.

And despite how fragile she sounded, Jaksus found a hidden strength in her words. Or at the very least a strong strategy. So far they'd avoided actually discussing what they wanted out of … Whatever it was that they had. But as Maria spoke, Jaksus wasn't sure that he didn't want to spend most of the foreseeable future beside the tiny human in his arms. He smiled in her hair and pulled her closer, "That… Is definitely something I can do."

….

Neross: Well my readers I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter…um…please don't hurt me. It turned out well right? RIGHT? *hides behind chair*. Don't kill me it'll turn out all right I promise. More happy next time. Anyway if you want to rant and rage at me or praise me you can do either or in a review right? And then I'll get to the next chapter faster. As always thanks a million to my beta reader Spyke1985.

Until next time, keep on rocking out!


	14. Eros and Apollo

Neross: Oh god I am so sorry. First of all this took forever. Second of all I left this alone for WAY too long. I am so sorry. I have had…how long has it been? Well whatever the last couple years have been awful. This last year in particular has been really terrible. But you guys don't want to know about that. You want to read some awesome turian/human romance shenanigans.

SO LET'S GET RIGHT TO THAT.

Warning: This fanfiction contains foul language, violence, adult situations, and sexual situations. Enjoy!

…

Maria woke up the next day to a wonderful thing. A smiling Turian grinning down at her. Her dreams had been troubled and the sudden, unexpected, and glorious image threw her. Her face bloomed red and Jaksus laughed even as he wrapped his clawed hands into her hair and pulled her into a heated kiss. Maria melted, smiled, and laughed into her bodyguard's embrace. His hands worked themselves down, created little shivers in their wake and ignited something deep within the tiny human that she'd never really felt before.

She'd had sex, true, but it hadn't been anything like this. That had been gentle, fun, and soft. This made her feel as if she were being devoured. She trailed her fingers across the flesh of his neck and delighted in the way the muscles fluttered under her touch. She kneaded the tender area just beneath Jaksus' fringe and felt him falter as he groaned against her mouth.

She loved it, the very sound of him, the knowledge that she was driving him as crazy as she felt he was driving her. It was the best feeling Maria had ever known. And it ended all too soon. Reluctantly Jaksus pulled away, though he smiled down at her as he stood. "Come on Maria, as much as I'd like to spend all day in bed, we should probably go get something to eat." He told her, his voice amused…but husky and strained.

Maria almost felt like pouting. She wanted to kiss him some more. Still she let herself smile as she sat up and wrapped her arms around her calves to study him with curious eyes. "Will you take me to Zaebarrs?" she asked, innocently, wondering if he'd take the bait and whisk her off to her favorite breakfast café.

Jaksus' reply was to flash his mandibles and smirk, throwing the red-headed woman off completely. "Actually…I was thinking we'd go someplace new. Now come on." he told her, pulling her out of bed, holding her aloft and kissing her once more. He denied her of breath all the way to the bathroom where he plopped her down and grinned. "I'd join you in the shower but then we wouldn't get anywhere. Be quick."

He'd left before Maria could properly formulate a response. She stared at the space where he'd been and wondered if somehow she was still dreaming…or else if someone had drugged Jaksus when she hadn't been looking. She shook the thoughts away…and jumped into the shower.

….

Jaksus wanted to make things up to Maria. That's what he had decided the moment he'd woken up. He'd hurt her, for stupid reasons, and he was going to fix that. Everything else didn't matter. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself. The truth was he had just about lost his mind. All he wanted was to devour her…but honestly he was too afraid he'd hurt her. She was softer than any of the other women (or species) that he'd been with…and she was emotionally fragile as well.

What's more Jaksus got the sneaking suspicion that Maria's time with him might be a first for her. And that could always be traumatic for a female…regardless of species. So the Turian found himself in a panic, even more so because the damn human knew just where to touch him to send every nerve in his body on fire. If he were truly honest he'd have to admit that really what he wanted to do was to throw everything to the wind and just have her as she was in the shower. But he was afraid…and despite how loud the cry of 'coward' rang in his head he just couldn't push himself to finally take what he wanted. And there was nothing anyone could do to make him take her by force.

He dressed while Maria was busy in the shower and banged his head against the wall in frustration when he realized that he'd been trying to put his shirt on the wrong way in his hurry. He called himself an idiot and got it together before going through Maria's things and picking out an outfit for her. Not that she needed his help, but he'd come to realize that if he picked out something for her she didn't spend an hour or more agonizing over the decision herself. It had become part of a routine for them. A routine he had interrupted and was now glad to get back to.

He was more than a little surprised when he opened the first drawer he came across and found a tiny package tied up in blue ribbon with a tag within. Jaksus snuck a peek at the tag and frowned before shaking his head in laughter. 'Wear this when you want that Turian of yours to drool. -L.S.'

"Meddling again." Jaksus muttered to himself, pulling the package out and gently untying it to reveal its contents. The ruddy turian found his brow plates shooting up in surprise and reverent appreciation. Apparently Maria's distant relation knew a thing or two about cross-species fashion. Hastily Jaksus re-packaged the outfit and set it out where Maria would clearly see it before beating a quick retreat to the living room.

He shut the door behind him and had to admit he was more than a little excited to see Maria in the outfit Linda had left for her. Although how he'd keep his hands off of her Spirits only knew.

…..

Maria showered as quickly as she could, brushed out her hair, performed her normal morning hygiene technique and then wrapped herself in the biggest towel she could find. She had no intention of strolling out naked in front of Jaksus…that would just be…much too much for her at this moment. Although it did offer some unique scenarios to the scene in her head. She turned red straight to her roots at the thought and definitely settled on the towel as she made her way hesitantly out of the bathroom.

Jaksus was gone however. Maria fought back the little ounce of disappointment and tried not to let it get to her. She was about to start actually pouting when she spotted a lumpy package sitting upon their bed.

Curious Maria took a peek at the tag, and then made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. "Oh…damn." Maria swore unsure whether to glare at the tag or burst out laughing. She chose to simply ignore it instead and focused on unwrapping the package. Only when she did she found herself confused. Inside was a very casual, sleeveless, short dress with a high-collar that had none of the glamor or sex appeal of the dress she'd worn the night before. How was she supposed to make Jaksus drool over her in this?

She let out a sigh however and pulled the deep blue and black dress from the package and quickly changed into it, hoping that it might make more sense once she'd tried it on. Once she'd put it on and had got a good look at it she found that she still didn't understand. Sure it clung to her and had the trendy hip to upper-waist cut-out panels that were popular, but it was hardly overtly sexual. Maria sighed as she stared at herself in the mirror and glared at the offending asymmetrical colors of the dress. It even had sleeves…though they were detachable.

Maria put them on anyway, as she felt…off…without them and then slipped into her favorite pair of shoes. She took one last look at herself at the mirror, frowned and then threw up her hands in defeat before she strode out of the bedroom to find her missing bodyguard.

She didn't need to look far, she found him sitting on the couch in the living room, datapad in hand. He looked up as she entered and Maria was surprised when Jaksus just sat there…staring at her. Wondering if, somehow, her bra were showing Maria did a little turn, looking for something wrong. Until she felt Jaksus' hands around her hips, holding her still. His grip was strong but hesitant and Maria looked up at him curiously and felt her spine turn to jelly at the intensity in the turian's gaze.

"Clearly, " her bodyguard murmured, " I made a poor choice in letting you leave that bed."

Maria wasn't sure…but she could have sworn that even the tips of her toes went red after Jaksus' little proclamation. Regardless of what actually happened something must have shown on Maria's face because Jaksus' face shifted and he laughed. "Come on…let's get out of here while we both still can."

"Can't," Maria told him, cursing herself as her voice wavered, "I think my legs are stuck."

…

Maria's legs eventually were able to move and Jaksus happily dragged them both out of the apartment. He led them down to the wards, a surprise for Maria since Jaksus always liked to claim they were a bit too dangerous to go explore. Nonetheless he took her down to Zakera ward, to a little shop…run by Hanar of all things. But the part that really made Maria perk up and squeal with delight was the pack of Drell waiters.

Maria was delighted and Jaksus found it almost hilarious the way she gazed in wide-eyed wonder at those who worked and ate just around them. She was as excited as he'd be if he were presented with a room full of steaks. He could see it was an extreme effort for the poor girl to restrain herself from giving every waiter the third degree on every bit of their culture. Still her bubbly excitement seemed to be contagious as their waiters started to actually joke around with them both and laugh at Maria's half-veiled curiosity.

They ordered their meal, a couple of drinks, and sat back and waited. Maria seemed to be on the edge of her seat, completely enraptured by the sights around her. So Jaksus had decided to leave her alone. He turned his attention to the large glass window that stared out at the foot-traffic outside. And found himself frowning as he noticed a human loitering about outside. It shouldn't have been strange…but the turian could have sworn he looked…familiar.

When their meal came Jaksus wrote it off, forcing away the paranoia to shoot Maria a smile. He didn't want to ruin anything for her after all. Jaksus found his own meal to be a bit bland…but pleasant, the unfortunate side-effect of ordering a dextro entree at a restaurant that didn't specialize in them. Inevitably you always wound up with a rip-off of the other guy's meal. Still, Jaksus couldn't complain too much. It wasn't terrible and Maria had stars in her eyes from devouring her own meal. Which Jaksus was more than happy for. She needed it.

She needed it because he'd been a complete ass to her. And he wanted, more than anything, to make it up to her. He wanted her to go back to being that bright and shining creature who had bounded into his life and turned everything upside down. In a good way.

He payed for their lunch and led them both out, Maria chatting endlessly happily upon his arm about the similarities in Asari and Salarian dishes. He wasn't getting all of it but it sounded interesting the way she said it. He smiled at her as he led her up the streets of the Citadel. He took her in an elevator up to the Persidium and led her out through the gardens to the lake. As the light of the Persidium rose up to meet them Maria slowly went quiet. She wrapped her both of her arms around one of his and clung to him, her eyes darting about, her mouth opened in the tiniest little 'o' of surprise.

Jaksus could hardly keep his eyes off of her. She was so enraptured and so taken by the sights that he found himself breathless at the look of her enraptured as she was. He took her to the foot of the Krogan monument and watched as she eagerly listened to the Avina VI's short blurb of history about it. "This …is wonderful." Maria told him, turning to look at him with a smile that filled her entire face.

And Jaksus felt the floor fall out from beneath his feet. He knew, in that instant, that he loved her. It was such a simple moment, such an average and mundane time to come to such a conclusion…but there it was. Smacking him dead in the face. "Your right…it really is wonderful." he told her, reaching out to take her hand in his. It was a devastating revelation to learn that he loved her, his chest squeezed painfully and he felt like he could fall straight over. It was wonderful too and although he wondered how he'd ever survive now, knowing what he knew, he was looking forward to indulging in the feeling. If at least for a little while.

Maria looked down at his hand, and then back up at him and was about to comment when an abrupt sound caught their attention. Turning Jaksus caught sight of something, or rather, someone, he never thought he'd see again. In fact, he'd been hoping never to see this particular person again until the mess with Maria was over…at the very least. But as usual, Jaksus' timing was awful…and Atrius' was perfect.

Atrius was a turian, one with dark scales, nearly tribal red clan markings, and the brightest golden eyes that any turian could ever boast of. He was tall and broad and his fringe was attractively long. And he had been the absolute bane of Jaksus' existence back in basic training when they'd both been fifteen. Although it had been for none of the obvious reasons. Atrius was hardly a bully, he could pull a prank or too and although his build might suggest he'd pick you up and hurl you across the room he was more likely to be pushed over by a five year old. No it wasn't because he'd been bullied by Atrius that Jaksus couldn't stand him…but because Atrius was the most notorious, and consequentially the best, flirt his entire devision had ever seen. The backwood's brat had a golden tongue and enjoyed using it…on everyone. Including Jaksus on occasion.

Jaksus groaned and couldn't help the way he placed himself between Maria and the incoming bulky turian with the surprisingly chipper stride. " Oi! Vikil! Ah though' tha' was ye! Ah've been callin' ou' t'ye fer awhile bu' ah guess ye didn' 'ear me…wha' wit your makin' moon-eyes wit t'lovely lady an' all." the red-marked turian commented, his slurring speech already grating on Jaksus' nerves.

"I wasn't…Look this isn't what- Oh shut up Imperius!" Jaksus growled, his mandibles fluttering about like the wings of an agitated bird.

The other turian just grinned. "Aww ye missed me. Ah can tell." he commented, seeming even more amused by the officer's clear irritation.

"Weren't you supposed to be dead somewhere? Last I heard of you, you didn't return with your squad. And that was close to ten years ago." Jaksus ground out, trying to ignore the way Maria laughed into his side.

"Well tha' was jus' 'cuz ah wen' an' go' m'fine ass captured by t'humans. Ah was held on Shanxi fer awhile. Fun times. Made a few frien's outta m'captures. Did ye know tha' humans can die t'eir hair? Yah…all colors ye can t'ink o'. 'Course non o' 'em looked as good as t'one in orange clinging' ta yer side." Atrius commented, his golden gaze sliding from his old army pal to the human stuck to his side.

Maria poked her head out shyly and smiled at the other turian. Jaksus felt something like a lump of jealousy settle in his gut and tried not to look as the petite woman demurely walked over to shake Atrius' offered hand. "Maria St. George, it's a pleasure to meet you-"

"Atrius Imperius. T'name soun's impressive ah know bu' i' really ain't. " he told her, interrupting her with his deep accent and rich voice. Maria blushed and Jaksus felt himself bristle. He walked over and wrapped an arm around Maria's waist before Atrius could get the idea to pull something. Atrius wasn't blind to the move and shot Jaksus a knowing smirk. As if to defy him the big red turian bent over and placed a kiss to Maria's forehead.

Maria turned completely red and Jaksus began developing a twitch in his left mandible. "Don't you have someone else to rub up on?" Jaksus growled.

Atrius threw his head back in a laugh and then rose a brow-plate speculatively and stepped closer to Jaksus. "Jealous Jaksus? Ah don' be, yer still m'favorite private."

Maria let out a sharp sound and then clapped her hands over her mouth, but Jaksus could feel her shaking in laughter. Jaksus was beginning to shake with something else. He opened his mouth to tell the other turian off…completely missing the quick look Atrius shot Maria…and wound up with a mouthful of the other turian's tongue. Atrius was big and as much as Jaksus liked to brag, the other turian easily overpowered, pulling him into some sort of dip and kissing him completely senseless. And the worst thing was Jaksus couldn't even say it was terrible because, Spirits damn him, Atrius' golden tongue wasn't just good at talking. After about a good ten seconds of being snogged Jaksus was dumped on his ass. He took in a gasp of air and wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, shooting murder at Atrius with his eyes the entire time. The bigger turian was grinning from ear to ear and Maria was staring at Jaksus in a way that had his expression falling.

"Maria…" he began, feeling dread settling at the base of his spine.

Oh no. No…Spirits please no.

"I've never seen two turians kiss before." she murmured, her face surprisingly still and calm despite the red coloring her cheeks. She looked up at Atrius and then (fucking) grinned in that slightly manic way that always preceded a long stream of words that would impress a salarian. Jaksus could see it coming, the intake of breath the way she opened her mouth, and then the widening of her eyes right as she's about to speak and.

Boom! Somewhere in the distance an explosion rocked the presidium. Jaksus was on his feet instantly and Atrius' smile vanished, his hand reaching for what Jaksus assumed was a concealed weapon. He was concerned until he saw the way the turian was focused on the explosion in the distance…and thankfully not Maria. Maria's smile was gone as well. She was gazing in horror at the plume of smoke and flame that rose up from the merchant quarter of the presidium. Siren's began to blare overhead, people ran by screaming. Jaksus reached for Maria, pulling her to him by her hand, keeping her close.

Then, as suddenly as the first, a second explosion rang out. This time from the opposite direction, near the C-SEC academy. Jaksus turned to look as flames burst up and the Persidium's chaos became near to absolute. Atrius was tensing beside him, the big turian swearing under his breath and his hands clenching. He finally pulled out his concealed pistol and armed it but thankfully pointed it at the ground, although his entire large body was on alert. Jaksus reached for his own pistol, a very uncomfortable feeling gripping his spin. A terrible fear he wasn't sure he understood making him want to run. He turned to Maria an order to run for safety forming …when she was suddenly ripped from his grasp.

…

Maria stared in horror as the flames erupted at the other end of the presidium, she could feel the ground shaking underneath her feet. She wasn't sure, but she was sure she could feel the heat from the flames even from this far away distance. Jaksus' hand gripped hers and she was thankful for it, people ran past them, bumping into them, jostling them both. She turned and kept her eyes on her turian bodyguard, Atrius completely forgotten in the background. She was shaking, unsure how to act or what to do. She wanted to help but her entire being was paralyzed in fear. Jaksus reached for something, it must have been his pistol and turned to her. His mouth opened and Maria strained to hear him, when there was suddenly an arm around her waist, grabbing her and pulling her away. Almost immediately the crowd swallowed her up and the only thing anchoring her was the large, powerful, harsh arms around her middle.

She was lifted and thrown over a shoulder. A turian shoulder. Maria frowned, this wasn't her turian or even Atrius. It was some heavily armored individual who reeked of alcohol, drugs, and something else Maria couldn't place. the grip on her was painful and after a turn she couldn't see Jaksus anymore through the crowd. Another turn and the crowd was suddenly gone and she was alone with her capture, flying down a stairwell. She knew this should have scared her. But for some reason, it just infuriated her. A turian. A damn turian had his hands on her without her permission and was intent on carrying her off like…like some sack of potatoes! She let out a high-pitched shriek of fury and began to claw at her captor and when this didn't work, she squirmed. She shifted in her attacker's grasp and then, in one swift move, kneed him in the face. Her captor let out a sharp sound of pain and dropped her.

It hurt and Maria groaned but she was on her feet in an instant, running back to the stairwell entrance. She grasped the edge of the wall and was about to sprint back out into the crowd when she grabbed from behind again. He had her by the hair this time and she hissed in pain as he dragged her back and slammed her to the floor. Her world spun and black dots swam before her eyes as she tried to recover her bearings. He was on her before she could so much as roll over, a rough hand at her throat, choking her. She scratched at his hand but couldn't so much as scuff the surface of his armored gloves. He flashed a knife into her field of vision and she felt her blood go cold. She stopped moving, fear finally winning out and pulling her down into a deep icy pit.

The turian above her growled and gave a flicker of his mandibles in what Maria assumed was some sort of acknowledgement or acceptance that it was understood she wouldn't fight back. He let go of her throat and grabbed her roughly by the arm instead, hauling her to her feet so swiftly her shoulder strained painfully. He pulled her arm behind her and then locked it together with her other wrist in a pair of kinetic cuffs. The process made her joints ache in protest. Jaksus was always gentle with her but this turian almost seemed to make a point out of treating her as roughly as possible. Every place he touched her bruised.

With her arms locked in place he pocketed his knife and pulled out a gun instead, grabbing her by her upper arm and dragging her along with him back down the stairwell. Maria couldn't have dragged her feet if she wished too, he was practically lifting her off them. When they took a sharp turn she cried out in pain as he yanked on her arm again. He turned to growl at her and suddenly his eyes went wide as something caught his attention behind her. Her attacker was thrown backward by some sort of unseen force and Maria tumbled to the ground, curling up and getting out of the way as Jaksus dived onto her attacker.

Jaksus was taller than him and Maria watched as her bodyguard used his height to his advantage, flipping the other turian over his shoulder and then placing his foot at the back of his neck. He pressed a gun to the turian's head and had him in cuffs in seconds. Maria watched, open-mouthed and astonished until she felt someone else gently lift her. She turned to see Atrius, the large turian (taller than Jaksus even and much wider in the chest) carrying her almost as if she were a doll and setting her carefully on one of the upper stairs. He sat behind her and within moments had her hands free. She began to rub out the discomfort in them and gave him a shaky smile.

Atrius gave her an encouraging one in return and patted her lightly on the shoulder before he stood up and turned toward Jaksus. Her bodyguard was holding her attacker up by the edge of his armor, pressing him against the wall, snarling into his face. "I'm not going to ask you again." he threatened, snarling, "Why were you after Maria?"

…

Jaksus nearly panicked when he lost sight of Maria in the crowd, he pushed people out of his way but only got shoved into a wall for his efforts. It was Atrius that ended up proving to be the biggest help, he grabbed him, pulled him to his feet and barreled his way through the crowd with surprising ease. Apparently his old training partner had become quite good at moving through crowds. He had no idea why by Jaksus thought that it suited the bigger turian. They'd made it nearly to the entrance to the wards when Jaksus heard something over the din of screams and roar of the sirens passing by overhead. A scream. Maria's scream.

His head whipped around and he spotted her, her body flailing and viciously beating back a rough-looking turian as he tried to drag her down the stairwell and away from the presidium. Jaksus felt a surge of emotions not the least of which pure, blind, fury. He ignored the rest of them. He didn't need them. He needed to be angry. He motioned for Atrius and the large turian cleared a path for him. It took them longer than Jaksus would've liked but they cleared the screaming crowd and sprinted for the stairwell. Jaksus beat Atrius there and practically flew down the steps, drawing up his biotics as he went as he could hear the other turian struggling to drag Maria away. He turned the corner and spotted them as the bastard gave a hard pull on Maria's arm, hurting her.

Jaksus vision went black with rage, he lashed out with his biotics, flinging the other turian into the nearest wall. Jaksus was on him in an instant, grabbing him and throwing him end over end, taking no small amount of delight in the resounding crack as the other turian's head and fringe bounced on the floor. He had his foot at the base of the other turian's skull in an instant and cuffed him with the sort of ruthless efficiency that comes from being a cop for years. The other turian groaned in pain but otherwise didn't seem to comment, and instead chose to silently glare at Jaksus from the floor. He returned it with one filled with barely restrained murderous intent and he could see the other turian falter. "Why were you after Maria?" he growled.

The turian's mandibles flickered and he turned his eyes to floor in a glare, but otherwise remained silent. A harsh roar erupted from the back of Jaksus' throat and he lifted the other male and slammed him into the wall, making the other turian's head bounce with the force. "I'm not going to ask you again. Why were you after Maria?"

The roughish turian coughed, and had enough pride to look indignant. "Go fuck yourself race traitor." he muttered his voice surprisingly quiet.

Jaksus sneered in return. "I don't think that's what I was looking for." he ground back before using his biotics to crush the other turian's left hand.

The caught turian howled in pain and gagged. Jaksus stepped away just enough to let him breathe and recover from the pain before grabbing him by the shoulder and lifting him again. "Talk you son of a bitch. Or do you want to lose the other hand too?"

A surprisingly gentle hand landed on Jaksus' shoulder and the C-SEC officer turned with a snarl to face Atrius. The taller turian held a cold and surprisingly distant look on his face. Something Jaksus had never seen. As long as he'd known Atrius the other turian had always had that stupid smile on his face. Slightly lop-sided and disarming. He made you want to open up to him. But the way he looked now? Jaksus could feel ice speeding through him where the other turian's hand rested on his shoulder. He released the whimpering and cuffed brute and stepped back.

"If ye do tha' he'll be in too much pain. Better t'start chippin' off his fringe or diggin' under his plates than t'crush his hand." he stated in a surprisingly and eerily calm voice.

Jaksus could swear he saw Maria's assailant see his life pass before his eyes. He sputtered and then stared up at them both. "I was paid to okay?! Group of mercenaries, bunch of ex-military types. They're still real pissed off that the Council sided with sparing the humans on Shanxi, wanted to send a message that humans don't belong on the Citadel. They said they'd set off a distraction so I could grab the girl. I supposed to take her-"

There was a sudden sound like a soft whistling and then the back of the hired grunt's head exploded. Jaksus jumped back and immediately turned to Maria, grabbing her and pulling her out of the line of fire. Atrius had his back and was staring up the staircase at a human dressed all in black like some sort of commando, a strange white and orange symbol emblazoned on his chest. Before either of the other turians could react the assassin had vanished back up the stairs and was gone. Jaksus looked to Atrius and the larger turian squared his shoulders and shot Jaksus one last lop-sided grin before bolting up the stairs after the assassin. Jaksus let him go, he had other things to worry about at the moment. Like getting Maria someplace safe. He turned to her and found her clinging to his side and shaking in fear.

He could hardly blame her, he looked at her, glanced around him and then sighed and bit the bullet, there was no way she'd be able to keep up in this condition. He lifted her and cradled her gently against his chest as he began to take her at a run down the stairs. He slipped out past a C-SEC blockade and grabbed an emergency transport back to their neighborhood. He tried to hold on to Maria as much as he could, thankful that there was an officer ready to drive the transport for them. By the time they got back to their neighborhood he was about as worried and fearful as she was. He practically ran to their apartment, locking them in without a second thought and securing it so no one would be able to get in. And he didn't set his precious charge down until he had her safely locked in their shared room, tucked in his arms on their bed.

He was panting but he didn't care, he kept his eye on the door and held her. Until he felt her shift and glance up at him.

"Jaksus…you're tearing my dress…"

…..

A silent scream of terror ripped through Maria's throat at the sight of her attacker's head exploding. She'd been sitting quietly, uncomfortable and wincing with every blow and harsh word said, but she'd understood that. This? This explosion of blood and flesh was beyond her comprehension. Vaguely she was aware of Jaksus grabbing her around the waist and diving with her behind the cover of the next wall. But it all seemed very far away. She didn't want him to let her go though, there was nothing left in her to fight or flee now. She clung to him instead, hoping that if she closed her eyes all of this would have been a bad dream. That she was still up on the Persidium with Jaksus, his hand in hers. He'd been looking at her so strangely and it had made her heart flutter in her chest.

Her heart was fluttering now too, beating a hundred miles a minute, because terrible things had happened. She couldn't get her legs to move. She was thankful when Jaksus picked her up and she dug her hands in and held on to him as if he were a pillar to anchor herself to during an earthquake. He moved quickly with her down the stairs, everything seeming to fly by in heartbeat with the madness of the explosions still ringing in the background. C-SEC had set up a barricade and they were there to meet them. Jaksus met up with another officer and explained the situation, then they were moving again.

Somehow there was a car waiting, an officer already waiting behind the wheel. Evacuation precautions apparently although Maria couldn't for the life of her grasp the entirety of the situation. She tried not to think about C-SEC shuttling people out of the area. There own apartment was safe apparently. It was higher up on the Persidium, away from the main thorough fare. When they got there the streets were empty though. No one was out on the street but them and Jaksus ran with her to quickly join the other people who were no doubt hiding in their homes.

Maria tried to focus on Jaksus instead of how scared she was. The sound of his breathing, the beating of his heart against her ear, the feel of his arms around her as he held her to his chest. He shifted her for a moment to get the door to their apartment open and then lock it behind them. Briefly Maria worried about Nava coming back and finding he'd been locked out. But then she remembered that he'd started to sleep at work.

Jaksus took her to his room and locked that door behind them as well. He sat on the bed and cradled her in his lap and Maria wondered if he was beginning to calm down…until she felt his claws clenching and then slowly releasing their grasp on her shoulder and waist. It was as if he couldn't focus on whether or not to let her go or to hold her. And he'd begun to tear into her dress. Maria hesitated a moment before finally she wiggled in his grasp so she could look up at him properly.

"Jaksus…you're tearing my dress…" she murmured.

He gave a small jolt, as if suddenly waking up from a dream and released her slowly. He let out a deep breath and leaned against the headboard of the bed behind them. He ran a hand over his fringe and then slowly stared down at where he'd frayed her dress with his claws. "I'm…I'm sorry Maria."

She thought about it a moment and then slowly shook her head. She curled up in his lap and leaned against his wide chest. She listened to his heart beat as it finally began to slow. She didn't need to say anything. She didn't care much about the dress, she doubt she'd ever really want to wear it again after what had happened. And there was very little that Jaksus needed to be forgiven for. He'd protected her, tried to get information on who was after her. And it was hardly his fault that the man had died…or that those bombs had gone off. Abruptly she sat up and brought up her omintool. She needed to see.

She began looking for newscasts until Jaksus placed his hand over her wrist and shut down her search. "Maria…don't. You won't want to hear what they're saying."

"Why not? It's important. What if…what if those bombs hurt people?" She insisted, her face stubbornly set.

"Then you'll only for guilty for something you had no control over. You didn't set off those bombs someone else did. A group of angry, terrible people without a sense of empathy or remorse did that. Not you." He replied, his tone more patient but just as stubborn.

Maria hesitated and then finally dropped her arm in assent. She stared at her empty hands for a moment, just lying in Jaksus' arms as he held her and they sat in the quiet of their room. It lasted for a least a half an hour before Maria shifted again. She drew herself up and turned so she sat in Jaksus' lap facing him. She wasn't sure, but she could almost swear the skin at the base of his neck turned a light shade of blue.

"Do you need to send in a report?" She asked, cocking her head, her wild hair dipping slightly into her face.

He reached up and brushed it back behind her ear. "It can wait. My boss is aware you're alright and that I got you back here safely…that's all that matters."

Maria pursed her lips, "What about Atrius? He ran after that sniper shouldn't-"

Jaksus' mandibles gave an irritated flicker. She knew this because she'd been on the receiving end of those many times herself. "Atrius is fine. He can take care of himself. …And if he does get shot at least I'll have one less annoyance in my life."

Maria gave a sharp and furious gasp and then smacked Jaksus hard in the arm, drawing herself up in protest. "Jaksus Vikil! That's an awful thing to say!"

Jaksus flinched from the blow, "Ow! Hey! Look I'm sure he's fine, Atrius probably tackled the guy and talked him into submission or something or else the sniper got away and he's nursing a wounded ego."

She pouted. "That's still not a nice way to talk about your friend."

Atrius groaned, "We're not friends. He's a jerk I know from basic training who never knew when to quit flirting."

Maria paused for a second and then turned a bit pink before she clasped both hands over her mouth and her shoulders shook a little in laughter. Jaksus gave her a concerned glance. "Maria? Maria what's wro-…. Oh no. Stop that. It isn't funny."

Maria slowly pulled her fingers away from her mouth but she was still giggling a bit. "He kissed you." she managed to squeak out between little spurts of laughter.

Jaksus' brow plates lowered and then he glanced away in a grumpy way, the color at the base of his neck spreading. "It's not like I liked it."

Maria's giggling intensified. "Yes it is! You got so into it!" she blurted, practically bouncing in Jaksus' lap from the amount of laughter pouring out of her.

Jaksus looked back, his expression embarrassed and furious. "I, did not!" he snapped, "He- he just shoved his tongue in my mouth!"

Maria nearly lost it, she leaned backward and fell over in a fit of laughter. "Oh my god! He turned you on! Didn't he?! Oh that is so good!"

She felt, more than heard, his growling through the bed and then suddenly she had a large turian poised just above her. She quickly stifled her laughter as she stared up at him. Jaksus' expression was serious…and held a touch of a challenge if not anger. But the second her laughter died he opened his mouth in something very close to a smirk. "I'll show you what turns me on…" he purred, leaning over to nibble and lick up the side of her neck.

Maria gasped and then lost almost all feeling in her body as she went limp in his hands. Her face turned bright red and she gave a soft moan as his mouth moved up to press against hers.

…

He had no idea what had gotten into him. Well, alright, he knew exactly what had gotten into him. It was that way she'd sat herself in his lap and wiggled. It was the way she'd brought up Atrius' attack on his mouth and the way she'd laughed at his discomfort. He wanted a little revenge. To have her as caught off guard as he'd been with Atrius earlier. He loved the feel of her pulse just underneath her skin. He could taste her on the tip of his tongue when he traced his tongue under her chin.

When he kissed her he did it with all the hunger he felt and was ecstatic to feel her just as eager to return it. Soft moans were uttered against his mouth and she breathed out against his mandibles. He pulled away from her and smiled down at the flush of her face. "So…other than the explosions, and the near kidnapping … I think that date went rather well."

Maria stared at him a moment and then chuckled and nodded, slipping her hands around his shoulders. "Yeah. Very well. Are all turian dates like that?"

Jaksus blinked and then shook his head, "I dunno Maria, I'm just one turian. I'm sure there are a dozen different ways for- look stop that. We had fun, you looked amazing, and I'm going to get to sleep with you on the first date so there's that."

Maria blushed as red as her hair and stared up at him with wide, surprised eyes. Her mouth fell open as she gaped at him like a fish.

He studied her for a moment before chuckling and kissing her on the brow. "Your mind went straight to the gutter didn't it? I meant sleeping Maria. Like we have been for weeks now."

Maria blinked and then covered her face with her hands. From behind them came the sound of a muffled, "Oh my god! You are so terrible!"

He chuckled at her embarrassment and wrapped her in his arms. He rolled over and covered them both in the sheets and blankets of their bed. "Say that all you like. You're still the one who thought we were gonna get busy."

She gave a little laugh but couldn't seem to pull her face away from his chest. Her ears were burning and he could feel the heat of her face straight through his shirt and plating.

...

Neross: Okay. That's all I've got for now. Go ahead and check my profile for other stories or updates and... I just want to say. To anyone out there who is also going through the loss of a loved one or depression or having to watch someone go through cancer and chemo...or all three at once. Just know. You're not alone. It's awful, life is terrible and hard and it beats you down. But there are little things, little beautiful things that make life worth living. Making new friends, discovering new fans you didn't even know you had. These sort of things are beautiful and it may not seem like it but they help and if you ever feel like something is harder than you can handle...just think of the little things that make you smile or the things you've yet to do. Hell, think about the stories you've yet to finish. And you'll get through it. We'll get through it together.

Stay strong.

And keep on rocking out. See you next time.


End file.
